Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - November 12, 2007
The Indian Ocean island nation has an estimated HIV prevalence rate of 1.8 percent, which is low for the region. On the African mainland, HIV infection rates stand at 16.1 percent in Mozambique and 18.8 percent in South Africa, for example.
But officials say risky practices like sharing needles used for injecting drugs are causing many more infections. Mauritius suffers the second highest rate of heroin and opiate use in the world, according to U.N. figures.
"Some 92 percent of the virus' transmission today is through the exchange of needles by drug addicts," said Mauritius' minister of health and quality of life, Satya Faugoo.
The government was expanding a needle exchange programme to supply drug users, he said.
"Initially, we are targeting some 2,000 drug addicts by June," Faugoo told Reuters, adding that the authorities were also planning to treat another 1,000 addicts with opiate substitute methadone.
Mauritius has an estimated 20,000 drug addicts among its 1.3 million population, according to government figures, but many people who work with users think the real number is higher.
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Editied by Daniel Wallis and Caroline Drees
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