INTRODUCTION Drug law enforcement is part of the HIV risk environment among people who inject drugs (PWID). Punitive policing practices such as extrajudicial arrests for needle possession and police planting of drugs have been described anecdotally in Russia, but these experiences and their associations with risky drug behaviours have not been quantified. This study aims to quantify the burden ...

Drug use is an alarming problem in Bangladesh. An estimated 1.7 million people are drug users in the country (1). Injecting drug users present a tremendous potential for an HIV epidemic due to their needle-sharing habits, while non-injecting drug users are also prone to spread/ receive HIV infection through their unsafe sexual behaviour. Several studies have reported needle/syringe-sharing habi...

• Occupational setting • Percutaneous exposure to potentially infectious body fluid • eg. Needlestick injury including hollow-bore or solid needle • Mucous membrane exposure to potentially infectious body fluid • eg. blood splash to eye • Non-occupational setting • Percutaneous exposure to potentially infectious body fluid • eg. needle-sharing • Mucous membrane exposure to potentially infectiou...

BACKGROUND Psychiatric problems and cocaine use are associated with heightened vulnerability for HIV and Hepatitis C infections. Little is known regarding the relationship between psychiatric symptoms, psychiatric diagnoses and injection risk behaviors among cocaine users. We examined the association between psychological distress and injection material sharing among cocaine users, while accoun...

BACKGROUND Lack of information on the HIV epidemic among men who inject drugs (MWID) in northwestern Vietnam, a remote area, may hamper national efforts to control the disease. We examined HIV prevalence, needle-syringe sharing behaviors, and associated factors among MWID in three areas of northwestern Vietnam. METHODS We used descriptive analysis to report the characteristics, frequency of r...

BACKGROUND We evaluated brief combination interventions to simultaneously reduce sexual and injection risks among female sex workers who inject drugs (FSW-IDUs) in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico during 2008-2010, when harm reduction coverage was expanding rapidly in Tijuana, but less so in Juarez. METHODS FSW-IDUs ≥18 years reporting sharing injection equipment and unprotected sex with cli...

Background: Needle sharing and sexual contacts Taiwanese Department of Health (DOH) among injecting drug users (IDUs) have become laden with HIV and HIV related health problems, representing a serious public health threat all over the world. For reduce the sharing of needle, Taiwanese public health prompted methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) to reduce needle sharing and curb the transmission...

OBJECTIVE To examine whether needle exchange program (NEP) use by injecting drug users (IDUs) affects injection risk behaviors over time. METHODS Between 1997 and 2000, 901 IDUs in Chicago were recruited for a cohort study from a multisite NEP and an area with no NEP. Participants were interviewed and tested for HIV at baseline and 3 annual follow-ups. Non-NEP users received HIV prevention se...

BACKGROUND Dual infection with diverse HIV strains can foster the emergence of recombinants. The resulting increase in viral genetic diversity is a major challenge for vaccine development HIV treatment. In this study we aim to investigate the socio demographic factors associated with an increasing level of genetic diversity among HIV strains in a population of drug-users in Northern Thailand. ...