Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group protesters – Photo by Rico Gustav

By Karyn Kaplan

Kaplan’s electrifying essay on the human rights of drug users in Asia is excerpted from her plenary speech given at the
International Conference on AIDS in Asia/Pacific (ICAAP), Busan, South Korea, August 27, 2011 and reprinted from the Health and Human Rights Forum.

Here in Asia, home to more than half the world’s opiate users,  more than 16 million drug users and at least 6.5 million injectors, where HIV prevalence among injectors is among the highest in the world, where the HIV epidemic is largely driven by unsafe injecting practices, where less than 10% of heroin injectors are on methadone, and where injectors can access an average of just two sterile syringes per month, we lack 90% of the resources necessary to provide the
essential harm reduction services necessary for realizing the right to health. But while resources are a significant challenge, I would argue that even when we have the resources, it does not ensure access.