City Council urged: Evaluate drug program

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Anti-Drug Abuse Council has asked the City Council to evaluate the city’s Harm Reduction Program, which allows the distribution of free syringe to drug users.

CADAC has since opposed the program, saying it is illegal.

“Now, I am asking the City Council to make a deliberation… after the City Council has made a stand of the issue, we (will) refer this to the Senate,” said CADAC Chairman Clarence Paul Oaminal.

The program aims to monitor the rise of HIV and AIDS cases among injecting drug users but CADAC opposed it strongly, saying the method promotes drug use instead.

Oaminal, clarified, though that CADAC understands the objective to help prevent the transmission of the HIV and AIDS virus among those who share syringes.

Dr. Ilya Tac-an of the Cebu City Health Department said they are one with CADAC in the fight against drugs but acknowledged that injecting drug users are an integral component in the rapid spread of HIV and AIDS cases.

“The city health department’s mandate is to protect the health of the constituents of Cebu City that is why we are looking for means for the prevention of the spread of HIV,” she said.

DOH also disclosed recently that Central Visayas ranks third with the most number of individuals infected by HIV in 2014 nationwide. Of the 6,011 cases recorded last year, 10 percent or 618 individuals are from the region.

“Most of the people infected with HIV are seen on people who inject drugs,” she said.

DOH also recorded that on a nationwide scale, 94 percent or 5,649 individuals were infected through sexual contact while 357 individuals or six percent were infected through sharing of needles, particularly among drug users.

“Studies show that the high prevalence of HIV and AIDS cases is also due to the sharing of needle and syringe,” she said.

Tac-an explained that the Harm Reduction program has other components, including community outreach and field education, ECI diagnosis treatment, HIV counseling and testing, HIV treatment, and care and support, among others.

On September 12, 2014, after the city health department’s presentation, the Dangerous Drugs Board approved the pilot operational research proposal for a comprehensive HIV and drugs use prevention and program.

The two-year project only started last December.

QUANDARY

The program has apparently left city and barangay officials at a dilemma.

City Councilor Nestor Archival has pointed out that authorities may have difficulty arresting drug users, considering that the city itself is the one providing for the syringes.

Councilor Mary Ann de los Santos also asked if the clinical research would be used as basis to “legitimize” the illegal drug trade in Barangay Kamagayan, which is the site of the operational research.

Tac-an said the syringes are given to existing users, adding that CHD has other interventions like giving education to drug users who use syringes, among others. She said Kamagayan was chosen as site of the operational research because a study in 2009 showed that 90 percent of the drug users in the city get their supply from the barangay.

Kamagayan councilman Mansueto Avila said the program may not be the best solution, so far.

“Personally, wala nakatabang. Maybe sa aspect sa health pero in terms sa using, wala,” he said, adding, that barangay officials are not the ones supervising its implementation.

Avila said he noticed that business has gone slow since the barangay has started developing the old City Center where the drug trade was reportedly most rampant.

The City Council asked CADAC, the City Health Department and signatories of the Harm Reduction program to submit an evaluation and recommendation. – May B. Miasco and Jean Marvette A. Demecillo/JMO (FREEMAN)