Youth RISE Africa Regional Youth Development meeting held on August 13^th in Abuja, Nigeria opened up a dialogue space that has for many years have remained shut. The meeting took place after the Ninth Biennial conference on Alcohol, Drug and Society in Africa. The participants were youth advocates, young drug users, program implementers and representatives of Government officials. Most of the participants left with an affirmative statement: “No more time for a dance with shadows”.  You wonder why such statement?

The population Reference Bureau(PRB) recently reported that there are over 840 million people living in Africa and half of this population is younger than 18. This is a crucial resource base governments can take advantage of to achieve unprecedented and sustainable development. However the youth population in Africa is faced with myriad of challenges that often place them behind their counterparts in other parts of the world. One of these is HIV/AIDS. Africa contain a little above 10% of the world population but home to about two-third of all people living with HIV/AIDS and at the center of the epidemic are young people.

The impact of HIV/AIDS has been devastating. Although  policy-makers, program planner at all levels and international donors have paid increasing attention to HIV/AIDS in the region, the response to the specific component of the epidemics driven by substance use ( both injecting and non-injecting) have largely been ignored and attracted much less attention in terms of  funding, drug policy/laws reforms and program interventions.

While heterosexual sex has for long time been the major mode of HIV transmission in Africa, the rates of drug use are increasing and consequently an increase in drug-related HIV risk behaviors’. Existing data, although limited, on HIV and drug use in Sub-Saharan Africa has shown the high vulnerability of large populations of young people becoming involved in drug use and increasing availability and use of illicit drugs. One of the articles in The Lancet, 2010 July edition, reported evidence of increasing injecting drug use from over 31 African countries and suggest associated spread of HIV is underway. The United Nations estimated that about $1 billion worth of cocaine destined to Europe from Latin America passed through West Africa in 2008. This has a whole lot of implications. In fact the value of this drug trade is comparable and even higher than the gross domestic product of some countries in the region. Today, drug is more available on our streets than the education, information and support needed to reduce its related harms.

Drug use put a lot of young people at greater risk of HIV. Most young injecting drug users share syringes due to cost, inaccessibility or ignorance of the dangers involved. And for female injecting drug users they are often injected by their male partners with the same syringe used by others.. Drug use, for both injecting and non-injecting drug users, has a stimulating effect and has been documented to increase HIV risk through unprotected sexual encounters among users and their partners.  Young people are at a greater risk due to some individual factors such as age and gender and environmental factors such as availability of drugs, poverty, homelessness, unemployment, and peer pressure. Where prevention services are even available they are excluded due to policies of age restriction or unfriendly attitude of service providers.

Considering the magnitude of this issue, the expected and necessary response needed from Governments and all stakeholders have been sparse. Most of our drug policies are still punitive embracing a “quit or die” approach. This is taking an unbearable toll on young people with massive incarceration and detention placing a limit on their potentials and right to healthy development. Over 50% of people in prisons or detentions on account of drug use are young people. Most African Governments and their drug law enforcement agencies celebrate mark success based on the number of arrest and seizures made neglecting the public health impact of drug use. Hence a continous criminalization of drug use.Our policies is officially ignorant of the factors that predispose these young persons to initiate drug. Furthermore while it is very easy to get on drug, it is not easy to stay off drug. And for a transition between a state of Drug Use/ Dependency and No Drug Use is a need for evidence-based interventions.

Many drug laws are still in apathy to harm reduction. Only  drug users and In between this is harm reduction. While many people use drug for one reason or the other we need to ensure they are safe from drug related harms which include HIV transmission, blood borne diseases and other health related consequences.

It is obvious that ongoing intensified drug law enforcement has failed to prevent the availability of illicit drugs and to effectively address the present challenges the following among many others should be considered a priority:

Review of existing drug laws/policies to embrace scientific evidences that promote public health and human right. This review process should involve community participation and population most affected including young people. Young people are not only interested in the outcome but also the processes involved. We should be seen and be heard.

Comprehensive scale up of HIV prevention, treatment and care programs for young people who are already using drugs (harm reduction).

Increased and sustained funding for youth programs and youth-led organizations’ working to promote sexual reproductive health and reduce drug related harm for young people.

Negligence or inaction in protecting young people from drug related harms is dangerous for a region like Africa as it can result into an epidemic that may be difficult to contain in the near future. Experiences from other regions of the world like Asia and central Europe, as reported by Stop AIDS NOW, showed that drug use and HIV in a single decade developed into a “Dual Epidemic”.  Africa Governments need to embrace the reality of the potential harms associated with drug use and the need to adequately respond and young people are most willing to take the lead if given the support. It is our life and our future.

by Adeolu Ogunrombi

 Adeolu's blog is at: http://adeoluogunrombi.wordpress.com/