Establishment of Youth Friendly Drop-in Center for People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) in Manipur
In the high priority state of Manipur, 25% of the newly diagnosed HIV cases in 2019-20 reported acquiring it through infected syringes and needles (NACO, Sankalak 2020, 2nd Ed.). I-TECH India, under Project Sunshine, facilitated focus group discussions about youth-friendly harm reduction behavior/service models with 25 young PWID and civil society organization (CSO) staff in the Churachandpur district. One key finding from the focus group discussions was the need to have a space separate from adult PWID to access harm reduction and HIV prevention services. As the first step towards developing a youth-friendly model, a Drop-in-Center was established at SHALOM (CSO) which will have a youth friendly ambience and provision for recreational activities to attract young PWID, including hidden population. The center will also promote family/parent engagement for better understanding and service uptake. A blended index and social network model of HIV testing will also be integrated into the center to reach out to networks of positive and high-risk clients.