DRUG ADDICTS AND HIV..
A tragedy of catastrophic dimensions is unfolding in India, where the number of people testing HIV-positive is doubling almost every year. Initially contracted by shared needles among drug users, the disease in India, as in Africa, has spread through heterosexual relations. Complex and expensive pharmaceutical treatment of AIDS, coupled with widespread education about the danger of dirty needles, has slowed the progression of this epidemic in the West and bought Western nations time.
In India, however, AIDS drugs produced by Western pharmaceutical companies are vastly too expensive for its lower standard of living and only a few Indian companies manufacture any of the drugs now “generically” available. Since the Hope 2000 conference, negotiations have continued between Third World nation states and the pharmaceutical giants to approve local production of HIV medications. Meanwhile, Indian leaders are still struggling to get widespread anti-drug and “safe sex” messages communicated effectively to their vast population.
Based on figures released at the Hope 2000 International Conference on HIV, Substance Abuse, Prevention and Control held in November 2000 in Bombay, authorities conservatively estimate that one percent—or 10 million—of India’s one billion men, women, and children are now infected with HIV. This estimate is considered conservative because the Indian government and NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) struggling with the escalating crisis lack resources to accurately survey the rural population, where three-quarters of the people live.
As elsewhere in the world, the epidemic starts with intravenous drug use. In India, addiction to “brown sugar,” as the baser and cheaper form of heroin is called, preceded the AIDS epidemic and continues to create its own social chaos—criminality, immorality, community degeneration. The issues of AIDS and drug abuse are inseparable, even though in India AIDS has now become an uncontrollable epidemic through heterosexual sex.
In the Western world, if a heroin or other I.V. drug user becomes infected, he may be sick for years or even arrest his condition when treated with HIV-resistant medications. In India, once an addict finds he is HIV-positive, he is usually dead within two years. Because of the lack of medications, progression from HIV-positive to fatal AIDS illnesses often occur within one year. Put more bluntly, in India, addiction to heroin or “brown sugar” is virtually a death sentence, carried out within 12 to 18 months.
The appalling formula is this: Men become HIV-positive and, before they discover this fact, infect their wives. The men die first, often leaving behind pregnant HIV+ mothers, who give birth to HIV-positive newborns. The mothers die soon thereafter, leaving both their HIV-positive child and any earlier healthy children orphans. The orphan population is increasing geometrically in India.
As with Africa, India lacks a sophisticated infrastructure, and no one in authority even claims to know what to do. Some know the direction to move in and have proven projects which, if broadly implemented, could save literally millions of lives. But they don’t know how to implement them. What they face is ignorance, inexperience, disorganization, confusion, disagreement, inter-disciplinary argumentation. The ship of mankind is sinking, one could say, and arguments take place on “What IS a leak, really?” Or, “Does one drown from absorbing water in the lungs, or from the lack of air? Let’s do a multimillion-dollar study over the next 10 years.”
There are people with their feet on the ground in America and Europe who may not know how to cure AIDS, but who do know how to help people who have been diagnosed as HIV-positive to live longer. There are people who do know how to get addicts off drugs. These professionals need business support, administrative know-how and backup. The enemies of civilization certainly have their business and marketing acts together. Shouldn’t we on the side of civilization be able to get ourselves organized, too?.
Newhaven Charity Appeal Foundation Are Dedicated To Raising Awareness About The Dangers Of Using Dirty Needles Between Drug Users Overseas.
A tragedy of catastrophic dimensions is unfolding in India, where the number of people testing HIV-positive is doubling almost every year. Initially contracted by shared needles among drug users, the disease in India, as in Africa, has spread through heterosexual relations. Complex and expensive pharmaceutical treatment of AIDS, coupled with widespread education about the danger of dirty needles, has slowed the progression of this epidemic in the West and bought Western nations time.
In India, however, AIDS drugs produced by Western pharmaceutical companies are vastly too expensive for its lower standard of living and only a few Indian companies manufacture any of the drugs now “generically” available. Since the Hope 2000 conference, negotiations have continued between Third World nation states and the pharmaceutical giants to approve local production of HIV medications. Meanwhile, Indian leaders are still struggling to get widespread anti-drug and “safe sex” messages communicated effectively to their vast population.
Based on figures released at the Hope 2000 International Conference on HIV, Substance Abuse, Prevention and Control held in November 2000 in Bombay, authorities conservatively estimate that one percent—or 10 million—of India’s one billion men, women, and children are now infected with HIV. This estimate is considered conservative because the Indian government and NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) struggling with the escalating crisis lack resources to accurately survey the rural population, where three-quarters of the people live.
As elsewhere in the world, the epidemic starts with intravenous drug use. In India, addiction to “brown sugar,” as the baser and cheaper form of heroin is called, preceded the AIDS epidemic and continues to create its own social chaos—criminality, immorality, community degeneration. The issues of AIDS and drug abuse are inseparable, even though in India AIDS has now become an uncontrollable epidemic through heterosexual sex.
In the Western world, if a heroin or other I.V. drug user becomes infected, he may be sick for years or even arrest his condition when treated with HIV-resistant medications. In India, once an addict finds he is HIV-positive, he is usually dead within two years. Because of the lack of medications, progression from HIV-positive to fatal AIDS illnesses often occur within one year. Put more bluntly, in India, addiction to heroin or “brown sugar” is virtually a death sentence, carried out within 12 to 18 months.
The appalling formula is this: Men become HIV-positive and, before they discover this fact, infect their wives. The men die first, often leaving behind pregnant HIV+ mothers, who give birth to HIV-positive newborns. The mothers die soon thereafter, leaving both their HIV-positive child and any earlier healthy children orphans. The orphan population is increasing geometrically in India.
As with Africa, India lacks a sophisticated infrastructure, and no one in authority even claims to know what to do. Some know the direction to move in and have proven projects which, if broadly implemented, could save literally millions of lives. But they don’t know how to implement them. What they face is ignorance, inexperience, disorganization, confusion, disagreement, inter-disciplinary argumentation. The ship of mankind is sinking, one could say, and arguments take place on “What IS a leak, really?” Or, “Does one drown from absorbing water in the lungs, or from the lack of air? Let’s do a multimillion-dollar study over the next 10 years.”
There are people with their feet on the ground in America and Europe who may not know how to cure AIDS, but who do know how to help people who have been diagnosed as HIV-positive to live longer. There are people who do know how to get addicts off drugs. These professionals need business support, administrative know-how and backup. The enemies of civilization certainly have their business and marketing acts together. Shouldn’t we on the side of civilization be able to get ourselves organized, too?.
Newhaven Charity Appeal Foundation Are Dedicated To Raising Awareness About The Dangers Of Using Dirty Needles Between Drug Users Overseas.