‘Kaki jab’ signs up for needle exchange

NST: Mat (not his real name) has been dropping in at a drug rehabilitation centre in Penang for the past month to pick up free needles and enjoy a hot meal.
The 42-year-old intravenous drug user has signed up for the HIV/AIDS "harm reduction" programme aimed at preventing the spread of the virus by exchanging syringes, distributing condoms and offering Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT).
Until the needle exchange, Mat had lost track of the many people he had shared his needles with. Now, he says, he is not sharing needles any more.
"I think this needle exchange programme is a good way of preventing the spread of HIV," says the Pulau Tikus resident.
"Many of my kaki jab buddies are dropping in at the centre to sign up for the programme," he says, adding that news of the drop-in centre was spreading fast on the island.
The pilot project has done well in the north and south and was launched without fanfare in Kuala Lumpur last week.
A Health Ministry source says the programme may also be introduced in Kelantan, Pahang and Perak later.
And the six-month Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) programme, which was due to end next month, will now be extended until the end of the year since the RM3.2 million allocation will last until then.
Almost 290,000 drug addicts were registered from 1988 through last year, including 15,389 new cases last year. Most of them were men (98.2 per cent) and 67.3 per cent were Malays.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) claims HIV/AIDS in Malaysia has reached epidemic proportions, with an estimated 81,000 Malaysians infected.
The ministry’s syringe exchange scheme started on a small scale last month, with 168 intravenous drug addicts and 42 drop-in centres in Penang and 150 at 10 centres in Johor Baru.
The response has been good so far, the Health Ministry official says: "Those selected are doing well and so far there has been no report of abuse or drop-outs."
The Malaysian AIDS Council has been given RM1.5 million for the project and other non-governmental organisations are helping out.
Meanwhile, 754 drug addicts have enrolled for the MMT programme which began last October. The official said this is "running smoothly without any hindrance".
Eight government hospitals, two health clinics and eight general practitioners are dispensing the oral drug substitute. The programme may be expanded by the third or fourth quarter of the year.