Youth and Challenges: Case of Injecting Drug Users in Chhattisgarh

Abstract

HIV/AIDS is one of the major issues emerging as a serious social problems and a challenge to public health system in India. Prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in India is increasing rampantly and for controlling the spreading rate of HIV/AIDS National AIDS Control Organization- NACO launched the TI- Targeted Intervention projects in different phases throughout country in the states of high prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS. TI projects intervene with different high risk groups for spreading awareness throughout country with FSWs, MSMs, IDUs, Truckers and Migrants etc. IDUs i.e. Injecting Drug Users are the drug users who intake drugs by injecting themselves, one of the important characteristic of IDUs is that they take drugs in group, sharing of the same syringe in group makes them prone and increases the risk factor of getting infection of HIV/AIDS and other blood related diseases. In Bilaspur numbers of IDUs are increasing day by day, maximum IDUs belongs to age group of 20 to 40 years which is a matter of concern as this group of people constitute youth and adult are considered to be the most productive age/group. Peer pressure and friend circle influence are also contributory factors in increasing the number of youth taking drugs and becoming addict of it. Injecting drugs for IDUs are expensive, because prohibition on supply and public selling of these drugs results in black marketing of it which directly increases the rate of these drugs. IDUs get addict of it and they buy it at any cost due to which their maximum share of income gets spend on it and generates lots of socio-economic problems. This paper is a study based on content analysis, interview, observation and case studies from fields in which highlighting features are to understand the IDUs socio-economic status, their drug seeking behavior, pattern, and risk factor associated with IDUs, impact of it on their life as well as intervention of TI projects.

Keywords: IDUs, TI, Risk Groups, HIV/AIDS, ICTC

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