India mission underscores support for communities of drug users and those living with HIV

To mark World Aids Day, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov, attended a football match at the Jesus and Mary College Soccer Ground in New Delhi today with teams comprised of drug users and people living with HIV.

UNODC, and its partners in UNAIDS, are currently campaigning for HIV to be confronted by 'closing the gaps' in testing, treatment and prevention, as well as to end AIDS by 2030. There are 35 million people living with HIV globally; many of these individuals confront stigma and discrimination on a daily basis.

India is a high priority country for UNODC. There are thought to be around 180,000 people who inject drugs in India. The HIV prevalence among people injecting drugs is estimated at 9.2 per cent.

Mr. Fedotov is in India as part of a mission to South Asia, which takes in visits to Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. He held separate talks, before the community football match, with India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Vinod Kumar, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs. The UNODC Chief also paid a visit to UNODC staff in their office in India's capital.

In comments made at the end of his meeting at the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Fedotov said, "India is an important partner at the regional and international levels and has an essential role in confronting drug trafficking in South Asia and beyond. I very much look forward to closer cooperation and coordination between UNODC and India in the future."

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