Bangladesh: UNODC empowers officials on OAT services to strengthen HIV prevention among drug users

Dhaka, Bangladesh/12 December 2024: The challenges of addressing drug use and HIV/AIDS are deeply intertwined. Among people who inject drugs (PWIDs), the prevalence of HIV remains significantly high, driven by risky behaviors and limited access to essential health services.

In Bangladesh, the National AIDS/STD Programme (NASP) under the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has been leading the country’s HIV prevention efforts recognizing this intersection. Through partnerships with civil society organizations (CSOs), NASP currently implements HIV programs targeting 34,000 drug users across 24 districts. To strengthen these efforts, scaling up critical services like Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT) for PWIDs is important. However, this is often hindered by resource limitations and gaps in technical capacity.

In this context, 27 officials from NASP, the Department of Narcotics Control, Bangladesh Prisons, and CSOs were provided with knowledge and skills at a three-day training on OAT in Dhaka. The training built technical expertise among service providers, equipping them with the tools needed to expand OAT services effectively and sustainably.

The workshop combined technical presentations, hands-on exercises, and group discussions to deepen participants’ understanding of OAT’s role in reducing the harms of drug use, including HIV transmission. The sessions emphasized practical approaches to integrating OAT into existing health programs, fostering collaboration between government entities and civil society, and enhancing the quality of care for PWIDs.

The impact of the training extends beyond the immediate participants. By strengthening the technical capacities of key stakeholders, UNODC is enabling NASP and its partners to scale up OAT services in a way that meets the urgent needs of PWIDs while aligning with global good practices. It also underscores the importance of a collaborative, multisectoral and a compassionate, people-centered approach to address the dual challenges of drug use and HIV/AIDS.

Given the success of the training, NASP has requested UNODC to conduct two additional training sessions to further expand technical capacities across the country.

This activity contributed to SDG 3 and SDG 17: https://sdg-tracker.org/