Difference between revisions of "Needle Sharing Prevention"

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History of the Resolution

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Text of the Resolution

Category: Social Justice     Strength: Significant     Proposed by: Mikitivity

The NationStates United Nations

OBSERVING the continued health risk posed by injecting drug use (IDU), as reported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in its June 25, 2004 report titled, "World Drug Report 2004";

AWARE that it is common for injecting drug users to share their needles, in a practice that is commonly referred to as "needle sharing";

TAKING NOTE of the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) report "2004 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic", dated July 6, 2004;

CALLING ATTENTION to the fact that the UNAIDS report states that the "HIV epidemic remains largely concentrated among injecting drug users, men who have sex with men, sex workers, clients of sex workers, and their immediate sexual partners";

BEARING IN MIND that the UNAIDS report also found that in many regions of the world that 60% of injecting drug users are infected with HIV;

ALSO AWARE that due to the illegal status of most injecting drugs in many nations, that injecting drug users, like many other people living with HIV/AIDS and high risk groups, are less able to participate in prevention and treatment programs;

CONCERNED by the UNAIDS estimate that "AIDS is intensifying chronic food shortages in many countries where large numbers of people are already undernourished" due in part to the fact that people living with HIV/AIDS account for large portions of the agricultural work force;

ACKNOWLEGDING that while the best prevention and treatment programs are tailor designed to the individual cultures and societies to which they seek to help, that the scope of the AIDS Epidemic is global in nature;

NOTING the success of reducing HIV/AIDS (as well as other diseases such as Hepatitis B and C) through domestic, local, and non-governmental based needle and syringe exchange programs; ^{1 , 2}

OBSERVING reports that needle and syringe exchange programs do not increase IDU, but instead have resulted in decreases in the number of injections per day; ³

1. AFFIRMS the basic human right for all people, including injection drug users, to equal access to HIV/AIDS based prevention and treatment programs;

2. ENCOURAGES all nations to review existing free needle and syringe exchange programs and to consider adopting trial or study level needle and syringe exchange programs tailor suited to the cultural and society in which the program will be applied;

3. STRESSES that for IDU HIV/AIDS prevention programs to be successful, that the individuals that organize or participate in these programs shall not be subject to arrest or harassment, nor shall participation in these programs imply drug use;

4. COMMENDS existing national, local, and non-governmental needle and syringe exchange programs; and

5. REQUESTS that existing needle sharing prevention programs share the findings of their studies with other national, local, and non-governmental organizations interested in developing their own needle and syringe exchange programs.

NOTES

¹ Australian National Council on AIDS, Hepatitis C, and Related Diseases for a real-world example.

² "Seattle and King County Needle Exchange Program" is another real-world example that these programs are cost effective and save money and lives.

³ 1998 University of California San Francisco study titled: "Does HIV Needle Exchange Work?"

Votes For: 11,654

Votes Against: 2,876

Implemented: Fri Jul 23 2004

Additional Information

• Passed UN Resolutions