rp21 situational analysis - Pacific Health Voices

the lower rate of use by females. 520 However,
the 2009 YRBS reporting on data collected
in the 2007 survey contradicted this earlier
finding with a reported increase in use of
60 per cent of students ever having used
the substance: 64 per cent of males and 56
per cent of females. 521 In the same report,
38 per cent of students had reported using
marijuana in the 30 days prior to completing
the survey. 522 Further in-depth analysis is
required to better understand the apparent
change in consumption patterns and contradictory
results.
Amphetamines
Reported youth amphetamine use has declined
significantly from a peak of 22 per
cent of males having used one or more times
in the 2001 survey to 10 per cent in the 2007
survey. The overall rate of use was 7 per
cent for males and females, also reflecting a
slight decline in the number of females ever
having used — from 6 per cent in the 2005
survey to 4 per cent in 2007. No figures for
use among adult populations were included
in the 2009 substance use profile for Palau,
reflecting the general lack of data collection
on adult substance use.
Other
Data from 1999 and 2003 behavioural surveillance
surveys indicate that 2.3 per cent
of men and 0.5 per cent of women in Palau
aged between 20 and 59 years had injected,
with 38 per cent sharing injecting equipment.
The survey did not state if drugs other
than heroin were injected. 523 These figures
contradict the earlier cited UNGASS report
stating there is no known injecting on the
islands. 524 The same report shows that 6.8
per cent of men and 4.2 per cent of women
reported having sex with an injecting drug
user in the previous 12 months, 525 indicating
a need for further data collection and clarification
on this issue. Questions on cocaine
use were not part of the YBRS and are not
reflected in the adult survey data.
109
520 Ibid.
521 Above, fn.509.
522 Ibid.
523 Personal communication, 2008, re unpublished epidemiological report prepared for UNAIDS.
524 The UNGASS report is for 2008 and presumably relates to current injectors.
525 Personal communication, 2008, re unpublished epidemiological report prepared for UNAIDS.
Palau