NATIVE OF AKHA HILL TRIBE SWALLOWS DOSE OF METHADONE AS SUBSTITUTION FOR HEROIN AND OPIUM, 2003-07-17...

Achu, 39, of the Akha hill tribe, takes a dose of methadone, a substitution treatment for heroin and opium, in the Mae Rin district nearly 40km (25 miles) west of Chiang Rai on July 17, 2003. The limited methadone programme, which costs 10 Thai Baht (.25 U.S. dollars) per-person per-day, is being used as an HIV prevention strategy in Northern Thailand to protect injecting drug users from contracting HIV through dirty and shared needles. Since the maintenance program started in 1996, not a single drug user has contracted HIV in the village. REUTERS/Adrees Latif AL/TW