Agartala, Jul 20, 2022, TRIPURATIMES Desk

The use of injectable drugs by a section of youths in the city is posing a serious threat, particularly in Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) area, a health official said on Wednesday.

Head of Office, Tripura State AIDS Control Society- Dr. Deep Kumar Debbarma said this in a sensitization programme in the city.

According to Dr. Debbarma, many of the HIV positive cases have been identified in the Sadar sub-division over the past six to seven months. 

“Around 350-400 injectable drug users are there in the AMC area while 81 among them have been identified with HIV infection. The number is more in the entire Sadar sub-division,” Dr. Debbarma said.

He also said the tendency of using injectable drugs is high among the youths in the 16-24 years age groups.

Dr. Debbarma was addressing a sensitization programme of Corporators of AMC on HIV/AIDS and injection drug use. The programme was initiated by the Health department and organized by Tripura State AIDS Control Society.

He held a threadbare discussion on this issue and said, the department alone wouldn’t be able to fight the drugs menace without help from the elected public representatives,.

“The department alone can’t fight the drugs menace. The administration is definitely taking steps so that the youths don’t fall prey to drugs but the public representatives also have a major role to play in this regard,” he said, adding that the ways to prevent the use of injectable drugs were discussed in the programme.

Mayor of Agartala Municipal Corporation- Dipak Majumder and Deputy Mayor Manika Das Dutta and the corporators also attended the sensitization programme.

Majumder appealed to the city dwellers and social organizations to keep an eye on the situation and fight the drugs menace together. He stressed on raising awareness particularly among the youths about the negative impact of using injectable drugs.