IDUs sidelined in AIDS treatment

Not enough injecting drug users (IDUs) are accessing antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), two international AIDS NGOs said on Monday. Releasing their 'Joint Position Paper on Injecting Drug Users and Access to HIV Treatment', the Global Network of People living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+) and the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS, attributed 10 percent of all new global HIV infections to injecting drug use. IDUs currently represent only 7 percent of all people benefiting from global anti-AIDS treatment programes. The organisations charged that current repressive drug policies were among the main obstacles to adequate access to HIV prevention and treatment programmes for IDUs. "We believe that being an active drug user is not a valid criterion for denying an individual access to treatment and care," said Mauro Guarinieri, GNP+ chairman in a statement.