BACKGROUND National and local monitoring of policies on illicit drug use requires information on the number of problematic drug users in a country. This article reports the findings from a study that estimated the number of problematic and injecting drug users for all Drug Action Teams (DATs) in England for 2001. METHODS The Multiple Indicator Method (MIM) is a statistical technique for using...

Although the levels of injecting drug use among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) populations are high, we know little about their experiences of injecting drugs or living with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The loss of traditional family and cultural ties means connection to community is important to the well-being of LGBT populations. Although some kinds of drug use are normal...

People who use drugs too often face stigma, discrimi­ nation, and mistreatment in HIV prevention, treatment, and care. Some societies consider such users less deserving of compassion than others with HIV who are not drug users, because users' health problems are self­inflicted or their substance use is judged as a moral or personal failing. Even among health­care providers, many preconceptions ...

AIMS To compare clinical status, mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) rates, use of prevention of (PMTCT) interventions and pregnancy outcomes between HIV-infected injecting drug users (IDUs) and non-IDUs. DESIGN AND SETTING Prospective cohort study conducted in seven human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) Centres in Ukraine, 2000-10. PARTICIPANTS Pregnan...