Afghanistan's Opium Poppies Fuel Drug Abuse and Spread of AIDS

In a report released Wednesday, the UN's International Narcotics Control Board said Afghanistan's cultivation of opium poppies continues to rise, fueling both heroin abuse and the rapid spread of HIV. Heroin use is up in South Africa, China and the former Soviet countries - all of which have high HIV rates. Of "particular concern," said the report, is increased intravenous drug use "particularly among the youth" around Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town in South Africa, which is already home to the world's largest number of HIV cases: 5.3 million people, according to 2002 UN figures.

Under the Taliban, which banned opium poppy-growing, production fell from 4,600 tons in 1999 to 185 tons in 2001. But with the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan regained its position as the world's top opium supplier. Production rebounded to 3,400 tons in 2002 and last year was an estimated 3,600 tons. Poppy farms now cover 200,000 acres of land in 28 of the nation's 32 provinces, making poppy-growing the war-torn land's biggest source of money and jobs.

HIV infection has climbed among intravenous drug addicts in neighboring Pakistan, the report said. While drug addiction has always been prevalent in opium-producing countries, the report said many users now inject heroin, raising the risk of HIV infection.

The report called on the Afghan Transitional Authority to implement a national drug law drafted with the help of the UN, and it asked donor countries to up their funding to help Afghanistan fight the drug trade.

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