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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2 .12 Timor-Leste
(East Timor)
Population: 1,019,252
2 .12 .1 Current illicit
drug situation
For the current review, the World Health
Organization, the United Nations Development
Programme, UNICEF, Family Health
International and the Ministry of Health
were contacted in order to assess the current
illicit drug situation in Timor-Leste .
The following is a summary of their
responses:
• No data have been collected on the illicit
drug situation in Timor-Leste .
• Illicit drug issues are not considered a
priority in Timor-Leste at this time .
• There are too many immediate lifethreatening
illnesses and determinants of
health to address in the short term .
• There is some discussion of the quantities
of locally brewed alcohol consumed by
individuals but not to the point that it is
part of the public health agenda .
• There are no indicators that the situation
has or could change from the current very
low levels of substance abuse, especially
intravenous drugs .
2 .12 .2 Drug-taking practices,
risk factors and trends
HIV is present in Timor-Leste, but it has
not spread widely . Prevalence is low, at
0 .64 per cent of the adult population
(2002) . However, the prevalence of HIV
among sex workers in Dili has been reported
to be 3 per cent, with 15 per cent having
curable sexual infections such as gonorrhea
and chlamydia . Over half of the sex workers
involved in this study had not heard of AIDS,
four out of ten did not recognise a condom,
and none consistently used one . To date,
the response to preventing an HIV epidemic
in Timor-Leste has focused on the sexual
transmission of the virus with little or no
mention of injecting drug use . Findings from
a study team in Dili are concerning because
the prevalence of injecting drug use in the
university student sample was 3 per cent .
In Australia, according to the Australian Institute
of Health and Welfare, the proportion
of people aged 14 years and over who have
ever injected drugs is 1 .9 per cent and who
have recently injected (last 12 months) is
0 .4 per cent (n = 811,920; Aust pop 2005 —
20,298,022) .
2 .12 .3 Australia’s involvement:
Australian Federal Police
On 5 July 2004, the AFP and AusAID mobilised
a team of police advisers into Dili as part of
the Timor-Leste Police Development Program .
The team comprises six AFP officers and six
advisers . The purpose of the Program is to
assist the Timor-Leste Police to promote and
maintain a safe, stable environment in Timor-
Leste, which will contribute to economic and
social development and sustainable poverty
reduction . The AFP has one liaison officer
in Dili . (The liaison officer has liaison and
intelligence-gathering functions regarding
transnational crime while the focus of the
mission is capacity building .)
2 .12 .4 International involvement — NA
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Country summaries: Timor-Leste