Illicit Drug use in the Asia Pacific Region - Burnet Institute

Situational analysis of illicit drug issues and responses in the Asia–Pacific region
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B2 . Australia’s
regional efforts
Customs
World Customs Organisation (WCO)
Australian Customs contributes to World Customs
Organisation (WCO) initiatives to counter
the illegal traffic in narcotics . Information is
shared with the Regional Intelligence Liaison
Office for Asia and the Pacific, currently based
in Beijing .
Oceania Customs Organisation (OCO)
Australia is an active Member of the OCO and
works very closely with the OCO Secretariat .
Australia is a member of the current advisory
committee and is contributing to the development
of the Regional Trade Facilitation
Program, funded by AusAID and NZAID .
As a member of the OCO, Australia delivers
capacity-building assistance to fellow
members as necessary and able .
Bilateral agreements
Australian Customs has taken a strong role in
promoting cooperation among law enforcement
agencies in the Pacific region . This
cooperation encompasses the range of
Customs activities including those relating
to narcotics . In many cases this cooperation
is encompassed in a bilateral agreement or a
memorandum of understanding . Australian
Customs has longstanding agreements in
place with its counterpart agency in Hong
Kong, New Zealand, Korea and Papua New
Guinea . More recently agreements have been
signed with: Indonesia (March 2003), Japan
(June 2003), Fiji (October 2003), Thailand
(December 2003) and China (April 2004) .
Overseas posts
Customs has senior Australian representatives
in six locations — Bangkok, Beijing, Brussels,
Jakarta, Tokyo and Washington . Their duties
include representing Customs at a wide range
of narcotic-related meetings, seminars, conferences
and working groups .
Project PRISM (Precursors Required
for Illicit Synthetic Manufacture)
In recognition of the international nature
of the diversion of precursor chemicals for
illicit drug manufacture, Australia is participating
in the International Narcotics Control
Board’s Project PRISM . Customs was recently
appointed as the Central National Authority
(CNA) for Australia’s involvement in Project
PRISM . The aim of Project PRISM is to prevent
the diversion of amphetamine-type substance
(ATS) precursors into illicit drug manufacture
. As the CNA, Customs acts as the single
contact point for domestic and international
agencies in relation to Project PRISM requests
and activities in Australia . Customs has also
recently joined the Project PRISM Task Force,
the central governing body of Project PRISM,
as the regional focal point for Oceania .
CAPERS
Customs also works to foster international
initiatives with narcotic-related applications .
For example, Customs co-sponsors the
Customs Asia Pacific Enforcement Reporting
System (CAPERS), an internet-based secure
communication platform .
Joint cross-border patrols
Australian Customs vessels have continued
to support joint cross-border patrols by
law enforcement officials from Australia
and Papua New Guinea . The extended
patrols visit remote coastal villages and
island communities in the Torres Strait
and the Western Province region of Papua
New Guinea .
AusAID
Leadership role
Australia has taken a leadership role in the
Asia–Pacific region on HIV/AIDS, which
has been recognised by the Development
Assistance Committee and Executive Directors
of the Global Fund and UNAIDS .
Australia’s programs in the Asia–Pacific region
draw on Australian expertise to work in
countries with increasing HIV prevalence rates
such as Papua New Guinea ($60 million over
five years) and Indonesia ($35 million over
five years) . While recognising the significant
need to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa and other
regions, Australia is a key donor in the Asia–
Pacific region and gives priority to helping
our closest neighbours .
The link between IDUs and HIV/AIDS
and AusAID’s HIV/AIDS strategy
The efficiency with which injecting drug use
can transmit HIV means that it has emerged
as a principal driving force for the epidemic
across much of Asia . At least 50 per cent
of IDUs in Thailand, Burma (Myanmar),
Vietnam and Malaysia were estimated to be
HIV positive in 2001 .
In response to the strong link between injecting
drug use and HIV transmission throughout
much of Asia, a greater focus on tackling issues
around the harm associated with injecting
drug use will be required . Without a focus on
HIV transmission between and from IDUs, the
effectiveness of HIV/AIDS interventions within
Asia will be limited and epidemics will continue
to spread into the general population .
AusAID launched Australia’s ‘International
HIV/AIDS Strategy: Meeting the Challenge’ in
July 2004 . One of the five priorities identified
within the strategy for HIV/AIDS programs
within Australia’s development cooperation
program is ‘Addressing HIV Transmission
Associated with Injecting Drug Use’ .
The Strategy states that:
AusAID will increase the emphasis on minimising
the harm associated with injecting
drug use . This will include access to clean
needles and syringes and their safe disposal,
effective drug treatment programs, peeroutreach
and education programs that
include targeted social marketing of
condoms . It will also include access to
voluntary counselling and testing for IDUs .
AusAID will focus on expanding programs
and facilitating their integration at the
national level .
Prisons are an important area for implementation
of HIV/AIDS initiatives . A very high
proportion of custodial sentences within Asia
are drug-related and there is an undoubtedly
strong link between drug use, prisons and
HIV/AIDS . International research shows that
50–75 per cent of prisoners have injected
drugs before entering prison and as many
as 25–50 per cent continue to inject within
prison . Restricted access to injecting equipment
increases the frequency of sharing and
the risk of HIV transmission . AusAID will
therefore include prisons in harm reduction
initiatives, where applicable .
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Appendix B: Regional aid projects, in full