Comprehensive Approach: Preventing Blood-Borne Infections Among Injection Drug Users

摘要

Injection drug users (IDUs) play a key role in the continuing epidemics of HIV and other blood-borne infections, primarily viral hepatitis. Addressing the role that IDUs play in these epidemics is a challenge because it necessitates coordinated action on two of our most complex public health problems .AIDS and drug addiction. In the past, prevention planners, public health agencies, community organizations, and providers tended to focus on one aspect or another of the problem: improving the quality of substance abuse treatment, encouraging HIV prevention education efforts, or helping IDUs who continue to inject to obtain sterile syringes. This report takes a different tack, one that many in the prevention arena recognize and are acting on. No one provider or approach can do it all. To help IDUs reduce their sexual and drug-use risks of transmission, communities and organizations must embrace a broad approach that incorporates a variety of pragmatic strategies addressing IDUs' differing life circumstances, cultures and languages, behaviors, and readiness to change. This technical assistance document describes eight complementary strategies that, together, can make a real difference for HIV prevention for IDUs