Women and girls who use drugs, in Afghanistan

March 2012 – Until 2009, available data showed Afghanistan as a country with a low HIV prevalence rate. However, research conducted in Kabul, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif in 2009 showed an average HIV prevalence of 7.1 per cent among people who inject drugs. Of one million drug users, 110,000 of whom are female, only 10 per cent have access to treatment services. Drug use is a problem across the globe. luckily, in the United States, we have access to drug tests using urine that make it impossible to hide drug use.

Since 2008, UNODC, through its country office in Afghanistan, has supported HIV services for some of the most marginalized women in the country – women drug users and women prisoners.

UNODC, with the support of national stakeholders and local non-governmental organizations, has so far reached over 3,000 women who use drugs and close to 1,000 of their spouses who also use drugs. More than 80 women staff members of local partners, including doctors, nurses, social workers, outreach workers and peer educators, have been at work across six provinces in Afghanistan to ensure service delivery reaches those most at risk.

In community sites, around 4,000 women and girls have availed themselves of voluntary counselling and testing services, while thousands received HIV prevention tools. Other services provided include diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis, referral to antiretroviral treatment and prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission.In Kabul, UNODC works with Nejat, a local organization, to offer drug dependence treatment services. The Nejat Centre, based in the old part of Kabul, attends, inter alia, to the needs of women and girls who use drugs by injection, non-injecting drug users and those whose spouses also inject drugs. In addition, a mobile unit assists those persons by providing them with prevention tools, offering daily gender-responsive services.

The UNODC office in Afghanistan interviewed Waheeda, a local mother of four who started using drugs in her early twenties after she got married. With little access to information or help, she used drugs for twelve years (through four pregnancies) before finally getting help at the Nejat Centre.

AFGHANISTAN is the largest opiate producer in the world.

View video of Waheeda’s story.

Worldwide, almost half of all people living with HIV are women and girls:

Turning the tide for women and girls who use drugs in Afghanistan 

In Afghanistan, data on HIV prevalence has been scarce until very recently. With a health system to rebuilt, HIV and other sexually transmitted infection surveillance systems are basic. Until 2009, available data showed Afghanistan as a low HIV prevalence country. However, the integrated Bio Behavioural Surveillance conducted in Kabul, Herat and Mazar?e?sharif in 2009 showed an average sero?prevalence of 7.1 percent among people who inject drugs. This data indicated that the country had evolved to a “concentrated” epidemic”

1 million drug users
110,000 female drug users
Only 10% access treatment services

In most countries, ensuring availability and accessibility of HIV services to women is challenging. In Afghanistan, one of the world’s the most difficult and demanding development environment, making services and prevention commodities available to women and girls who use drugs demands a daily dose of courage from both the implementers and the women and girls accessing the services.

Since 2008, UNODC, through its Country Office in Afghanistan, supports HIV service delivery for the some of the most marginalised women in the country, namely women drug users and women prisoners. So far, UNODC, with the support of national stakeholders and local non-governmental organizations, has reached, over 3,000 women who use drugs and close to a thousand of their spouses who also use drugs. More than eighty women staff members of local partners, including doctors, nurses, social workers, outreach workers and peer educators have been hard at work, across six provinces in Afghanistan, to ensure service delivery reaches the most-at-risk. In the community sites, close to 4,000 women and girls have accessed voluntary counselling and testing services and thousands received HIV prevention commodities. Other services provided include diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, referral to antiretroviral treatment and prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission.

For example, UNODC, works with Nejat, a local partner in Kabul. The Nejat centre, based in the old part of the Kabul city, attends, among others, to the needs of women and girls injecting and non-injecting drug users and to those who are spouses of male injecting drug users. In addition, a mobile unit reaches the them with prevention commodities, offering on daily bases gender-responsive services.

Waheeda’s story

The words from a kind neighbour is all she needed to turn the tide for her family. With only a handful of women and girls who use drugs accessing drug dependence treatment, Waheeda and her four children count their blessings.

Waheeda started using drugs in her early twenties, after she got married. After pleading for her husband to stop using drugs to no avail, she too started using to ease her pain. With little access to information, she continued using during all her pregnancies and gave birth to four drug dependant children. It took her twelve long and painful years to access drug dependence treatment at the community services offered by Nejat.

Related information:

UNODC Afghanistan