IV drugs fuel HIV surge in youth

Srinagar, Dec 01: For decades, the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS had spared Kashmir. However, in very recent years, the Valley has witnessed a worrying surge in new cases, particularly among intravenous (IV) drug users.

At the Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Centre in Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, Kashmir’s only ART Centre, the numbers are telling.

Since its establishment in 2007, 1481 patients have been registered, with 681 locals.

Talking to Greater Kashmir, In-charge ART Centre, Dr Muhammad Lateef Charoo told Greater Kashmir that this year, 72 new patients were registered in just seven months, a staggering increase from the average of 40 to 50 new cases per year in previous years.

He said the trend was concerning, as the ‘trails’ of infection reveal a dangerous scenario.

“We found some clusters of HIV this year, all getting traced back to IV drug abuse,” Dr Charoo said.

He said Kashmir’s substance abuse crisis and increasing IV drug use were driving the increase in HIV cases. “We are seeing more and more young people, getting infected,” Dr Charoo said.

The ART Centre provides free antiretroviral therapy (ART) to patients, as well as counselling and support services.

However, Dr Charoo emphasised the need for greater awareness and education about HIV/AIDS, particularly among the youth.

He said that the cases belonged to both urban and rural areas.

“Drugs have pervaded every nook and corner of Kashmir and it is destroying our youth in many ways,” he said.

Head of the Department of Community Medicine at GMC Srinagar, Prof S Muhammad Salim Khan told Greater Kashmir that HIV/AIDS was primarily seen among people with high-risk sexual behaviour across the country, including in low prevalence places like J&K.

“However, the emergence of HIV along with Hepatitis B and C among injected drug users is emerging as a big threat to society,” he said.

Prof Khan said that there was a dire and urgent need to address drug addiction at all levels and this must be the priority of all stakeholders “before it consumes a generation altogether”.

At the Drug De-addiction and Treatment Center of SMHS Hospital, testing for HIV and Hepatitis B and C is now a routine among those abusing IV drugs.

Assistant Professor and DM Addiction Medicine, Dr Fazal-e-Roub said that in the last two years, they found four people with HIV during routine testing.

“In addition, 55 percent of those tested were found to be infected with Hepatitis C,” Dr Roub said.  “The number may seem too small, but Kashmir has remained a low prevalence zone all these years, and in epidemiology, sometimes even one case is a call for alarm.”

He said it was imperative to contain substance abuse and more importantly, IV drug abuse.

“It is a shot of death, in one way or the other,” Dr Roub said. “We need to reach out to the young community, especially to those who are vulnerable to substance abuse and IV drug use. We must educate them about the risks of drugs and HIV/AIDS and provide them with support and resources to overcome addiction.”