NIDA sponsored a symposium on "Drug Abuse and HIV/AIDS in the Asia Region" at the XVIII World Congress of the World Association for Social Psychiatry, Globalization, and Diversity: Challenges for Social Psychiatry, which was held October 24-27, 2004, in Kobe, Japan.
- Shridhar D. Sharma, M.D., Institute of Human Behavior and Allied Sciences (India), chaired the session, which was designed for practitioners and researchers attempting to better understand and respond to the epidemics of drug abuse and HIV/AIDS.
- The presenters discussed emerging trends and consequences of drug use, including methamphetamines and opiates, which are the region's primary drugs of abuse; reviewed effective, evidence-based practices for prevention interventions; and outlined the implications of drug abuse treatment for prevention of HIV/AIDS. The panelists also offered practical approaches to overcoming the gap between research and practice and addressed cultural differences within and across countries in the region.
- Presenters included former Hubert H. Humphrey Drug Abuse Research Fellow M. Suresh Kumar, M.D., D.P.M., M.P.H., Institute of Mental Health and SAHAI Trust (India); Martin Lutterjohann, Diph. Psych., National Authority for Combating Drugs (Cambodia); Wayne Wiebel, Ph.D., University of Illinois, Chicago, and Family Health International (Indonesia); and Zunyou Wu, M.D., Ph.D., National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China).