I am an IDU living with HIV and HCV and doing well with my treatment. I am on OST (buprenorphine) . I have been involved in different capacities in the response to drug use and HIV and related blood infection programs for the past 20 plus years.

SASO as a drug user’s organization has been responding and advocating for drug use and related infections for the past 3 decades now in MANIPUR, INDIA. The indispensability of OD response has been carried out in a very non conducive environment where drug use is a very sensitive issue. But having felt the dire need to take up a formal response system for OD management a community led service provision has been designed and formulated since April of 2016. In a place where about 34,000 IDUs are estimated in the last surveillance report, 2019 and where about more than 100,000 drug users are estimated. OD service must be improvised and expanded to reach out to the nooks and crannies. Since 2016 SASO has intervened and saved 1957 lives and 47 died in attempt till date. The networking response model is community led and partnered with the various Targeted Intervention (TI) programs operating under the state AIDS control society and many volunteers which are closely connected through a whatsApp group administered by SASO. It is operated 24x7. The medicine Naloxone is procured by SASO and distributed to the partner NGOS as per requirement. The nearest NGO will respond to the case for any event and voluntarism also plays a great role in all cases as it is a community led mechanism. As for opiod related OD cases antagonist like Naloxone can handle it easily. But the state is now infested with many drugs such as ATS, Ice, barbiturates and even cocaine. Poly drug use is also a big challenge when it comes to OD. With limited knowledge to apply appropriate meds for a right response capacity and knowledge building is a must. So the spirit of the community response should be at the fore by getting it equipped in all spheres.