Indonesia is facing one of the most rapidly growing HIV-epidemics in Asia. Risk behaviour associated with injecting drug use, such as sharing contaminated needles, is the main risk factor for HIV infection. Among the general population the prevalence of HIV-infection is still low (0.2%), but up to 50% or more of the estimated 145.000 - 170.000 injecting drug users are already HIV-positive. Over...

The aim of this study was to gain insight in transmission routes of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among never-injecting drug users (DU) by studying, incidence, prevalence, determinants and molecular epidemiology of HCV infection. From the Amsterdam Cohort Studies among DU, 352 never-injecting DU were longitudinally tested for HCV antibodies. Logistic regression was used to identify factors ...

AIMS To estimate the extent and nature of overdose and factors associated with overdose among injecting drug users in London. DESIGN Three hundred and twelve current injecting drug users were recruited and interviewed in community settings by a team of "privileged access interviewers". MEASUREMENTS A structured questionnaire was used that covered the following areas: demographic characteris...

BACKGROUND One key structural dimension in the distribution of drug-related harm associated with injecting drug use is the injecting environment. Epidemiological evidence associates elevated blood-borne viral risk with injecting in 'public' and 'semipublic' environments. Yet the quality of evidence on public injecting and related viral risk is variable, and is lacking in many countries such as ...

Injecting drug use is a growing problem in Africa and a growing risk factor for contracting HIV in the region. It is imperative that HIV research includes injecting drug users so that they too are able to benefit from safe and effective behavioural interventions and biomedical HIV prevention and treatment products. This article relates a critical review of the findings of a desk review of previ...