Mr Moon and his friends feel at ease at the clinic. Some are there to return their used needles and syringes and get clean ones, others to test for HIV or access their HIV treatment. Whatever the reason, health-care workers at the clinic take the opportunity to talk to them and train some of them as peer educators.

“If peer pressure is one of the main causes for heroin use initiation, the same principle applies when it comes to advising about the dangers of injecting drugs and how to prevent HIV transmission,” said MAM’s Medical Director, Cho Myat Nwe.

Raising awareness among people who use drugs is the first step in responding to the drug-related HIV epidemic—there isn’t a more effective way than sharing information and life skills among peers. “At school, we only received a brief talk about drugs, but nothing on HIV,” said one of Mr Moon’s friends. “With the information and training we have received at the clinic we can talk to our friends and provide them with important information to prevent infection.”

Engaging people who use drugs is only half of the challenge. The other half is reducing the stigma and discrimination they encounter in their daily lives.

According to Mrs Cho, people who use drugs are not very popular in their communities. The villagers do not understand why nongovernmental organizations focus their activities on people who use drugs and not on the general population. MAM is therefore working in the communities, providing general health care and discussing drug use and HIV, explaining why services for people who use drugs will have a positive effect on the community as a whole.

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