Posts Tagged Hepatitis C

Injection Centers for Drug Users: Good or Crazy Idea?

Posted by Drug Free in Drug Addiction on February 7th, 2011

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee is slowly focusing on his city’s rehabilitation starting off with budget cuts, pension reforms, and job creations as his priorities. There is one proposal, though, that has gained popularity and support by health officials: the creation of an injection center for drug users. Before you raise your eyebrows on the idea, take time to read what the center is really all about.

injectionAt first, it may seem that the proposed center would become a haven for drug users. Just imagine a legal, city-funded institution where intravenous drug users can get needles and do their thing; a little crazy, you might say.  For the information of most readers, this idea isn’t new at all. In 2009, then Mayor Gavin Newsom together with the Hepatitis C Task Force came up with the plan. This is in response to the growing number of San Francisco citizens infected by the disease, with most of them not knowing they already have the illness.

Doctors, public health officials, Hepatitis C advocates and patients are backing up the plan. They say that if the proposal gets approved, it would help stop the spread of the disease, and prevent deaths from overdoses and offer clean, fresh, and hygienic needles for those affected. It would also help control the ballooning population of HIV infected people. A facility in British Columbia which was created for the same purpose and showed positive results serve as their inspiration to have one in the city.

The city’s task force will be holding meetings with political representatives to discuss their recommendations on the issue. For those who are not so keen on the idea, they will also present alternatives for the plan. The task force will also continue to work with groups in their thrust to make people aware about the deadly disease.

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A Bloodcurdling Trend in Drug Addiction

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing, Prescription Drug Abuse on December 4th, 2009

drug
Flashing blood is the new technique of addiction that is gaining immense popularity among the teenagers along the Kenyan coast. It is a cash saving method whereby a user injects himself with heroin or any other illicit drug. He then draws a syringe full of blood and pass on the syringe to the next injector to inject himself. Thus these users are not only sharing needles or other paraphernalia but also blood. No wonder the numbers of Hepatitis C and HIV positive cases are escalating in geometric progression.

Recently a study on drug abuse had been conducted at Kalindini and Mombasa districts. The study, sponsored by National AIDS Control Council and carried out by DARAT, an organization based in Mombasa, indicated that a sample of 120 narcotic users including injecting drug users showed an exceptionally high rate of Hepatitis C and HIV positive cases. The drug users were all residents of Mombasa and Kalindini.

Dr. Timothy Mugusia, who was involved in the study said, “Over 70 per cent of them were found to be infected with hepatitis C while half of them were HIV positive.” He also said, “An abnormally high rate of HIV and hepatitis among injecting drug users at the Kenyan coast points to ‘flashing blood’ among local users.”

The practice was first reported in Dar es Salaam two years ago. Sheryl McUrdy of the University of Texas and Paul Kilonzo of the University of Dar es Salaam first reported the incidents of flash blood in a study published in the African Journal of Drug and Alcohol studies in 2006.

Dr. Mugusia estimated that there are around 6,000 drug injectors in Mombasa and Kalindini and most of the users are in their early 20s. The women in Mombasa have threatened to strip publicly if the government fails to take any immediate steps to check drug use in this part of the city since it is eroding the productivity of the youth.

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