The Baron Edmond de Rothschild Chemical Dependency Institute

Treatment and Prevention of HIV and the Intravenous Drug User: You Can't Have One Without the Other

Friday, July 23, 2010

From Wolfe et al, The Lancet, 20 July 2010 - highlights:  

"…nearly half (47%) of all IDUs infected with HIV are in five nations— China , Vietnam , Russia , Ukraine , and Malaysia.

...  IDUs are 67% of cumulative HIV cases in these countries, but only 25% of those receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART).  ... Integration of ART with opioid substitution and tuberculosis treatment, increased peer engagement in treatment delivery, and reform of harmful policies—including police use of drug-user registries, detention of drug users in centres offering no evidence-based treatment, and imprisonment for possession of drugs for personal use—are needed to improve ART coverage of IDUs. "   Online access at:http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2810%2960832-X/fulltext