Drug users on rise in Tripura

Agartala: The number of Injecting Drug Users (IDU) is on the rise in Tripura in spite of efforts by the state AIDS control society to control the menace, officials said.
The Injecting Drug Users are mostly concentrated in North Tripura district and Dhalai district, the officials said.
According to latest statistic available with Tripura State Aids Control Society (TSACS), the number of drug users has gone up from 750 in 2018-19 to around 1,000 till date.
The figure was 610 in 2017-18. But the exact number of IDUs would more than the official figure as drug users often avoid the health workers due to social stigma, the Project Director of TSACS Dr PK Majumder said on Friday.
“We have succeeded to get some die hard IDUs out of drugs through Opioid Substitute Therapy (OST) but actual number would be much more than the official inputs,” he said.
“As many as 215 IDUs have been fully cured over the past few years because of OST,” he added.
Dr Majumder said “The number of IDUs are spreading to new areas like Kanchancherra, Sikaribari and Ambassa city in Dhalai district over the years. Earlier, the menace was concentrated only in Kanchanpur subdivision because of open border with Mizoram.”(PTI)