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Kurt Sansone
Statistics released by the EU drugs agency confirm the risk ‘hard’ drug addicts run of contracting life-threatening diseases as a consequence of their habit and the underground lifestyle they lead.
The figures show that 70 per cent of such addicts in Malta have tested positive for Hepatitis C (HCV), a chronic viral infection that affects the liver. Since the disease is transmitted when body fluids of an infected person enter another individual, it is very common among intravenous drug users who share needles. If untreated the disease may cause serious liver problems.
The statistics for Malta were derived from anonymous testing of those seeking treatment at the Substance Misuse Outpatient Unit.
Among the 10 new member states Latvia has the highest number of HCV sufferers with as many as 83 per cent of intravenous drug users testing positive for the disease.
On a more positive note none of the AIDS deaths in Malta since 1986 (47) were drug-related. However, the reporting of the Maltese health agencies for HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS, only started in 2004 and no data is yet available for drug users that may be infected.
Individuals infected with HIV may take years before developing AIDS. The rate of HIV positive drug users is highest in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, countries that experienced a particular increase in the incidence of HIV infections during the 1990s.
Data for Cyprus shows that none of the island’s drug users tested positive for HIV, even if less than half the number of patients in therapeutic centres were tested.
The full report published by the Lisbon-based European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction was published earlier this month and covers various aspects of the drug problem in the 10 new member states.
kurt@newsworksltd.com
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