Government and non-government efforts are a must to cut the number of IDUs and prevent HIV/Aids, participants said at a seminar on 'Harm Reduction Approach in HIV Prevention Programme, Bangladesh' in the city yesterday.

The HIV prevalence rate in Bangladesh was put at 1.4 percent in the NAC second round surveillance report of 1999-2000 and 1.7 percent in the third report in 2000-01.

It shot up to four percent in 2002 while the global epidemic rate is five percent, said ASM Matiur Rahman, chairman of Nac technical committee, in his paper.

More than 50 percent IDUs in the central region of the country did not have access to interventions, which raised the prevalence rate to almost an epidemic, he pointed out.

"High prevalence of HIV in the neighbouring countries, increased population movement, lack of awareness of HIV infection, commercial sex, high prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), low use of condom and lack of voluntary blood donation are the risk factors," Matiur said.

Three hundred and sixty three IDUs were reported HIV infected till December 2003.

An inter-sectoral collaboration and instant initiatives are necessary to reduce and prevent the risk of HIV/Aids and 14 ministries are engaged to prevent it, said Home Minister Altaf Hossain Choudhury in his speech as chief guest.

Pam Baatsen, country director of Family Health International, Md Abdus Selim, programme manager of National Aids/STD programme, Anup Kumar Basu of HIV programme of Care, Bangladesh, and Md Asad, a former drug addict, also presented papers at the seminar organised by Care, Bangladesh, an NGO.

Kamaluddin Ahmed, director general of Department of Narcotics Control, Shahudul Hoque, inspector general of police, and Md Mizanur Rahman, DG of Health and Family Welfare, also spoke.