Compounding vulnerabilities: Result of Participatory Assessment and Response on Drug and Substance Use and HIV/AIDS in Phnom Penh, Battambang, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville
At the time of the study, illicit drug use had only been recently recognized by the Cambodian government as having the potential to accelerate the HIV epidemic in Cambodia. Responses to this issue had been focused, at best, on arresting dealers and sending users to military style camps for rehabilitation.
The study aimed to identify the most vulnerable people at risk to HIV related to drug use. Participatory approaches were used to generate qualitative information. Results showed relatively high levels of drug use within certain populations including out of school youth and sex workers. These groups already have a high HIV risk which is therefore compounded by the use of behavior changing drugs such as amphetamine type stimulants. The study recommends that drug related programs need to fully understand the personal and social factors that lead to drug use. A lack of services relating to drug use was found and therefore improvements to services and information availability and community involvement are needed.
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