Chapter 16: Injecting drug abuse and HIV/AIDS in Kenya by David M. Ndetei, Anne W, Mbwayo & Victoria Mutiso

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Introduction .
Of the 134 countries where drug injecting was confirmed in 1999, 114 reported a relationship with HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS, 1999). In 1995, it was estimated that 5-10% of all HIV/AIDS cases worldwide were due to injecting drugs of abuse through the use and sharing of contaminated needles and syringes (WHO. 1995). A multi-centre seroprevalence study in Canada at needle exchange sites found an overall HIV prevalence of 6.9% among lDUs between 1997 and 1998. Needle sharing occurred among 38% — 46% of the participants (Health Canada, 1997; Alary M. 1999). A two year follow-up study showed a 2-3% increase in HIV incidence (Archibald, Fiemis, Farley, & Sutherland, 1998; Health Canada, 2000; Lamothe , 1999; Millson, 2000; Patrick, 1998; Tannenbaum, 1999; Tyndall,1999; Wallace, 1999)
The number of new HIV cases among intravenous drug users in the United States rose in 2000, halting five years of steady decline in overall HIV seroprevalence (World Drug Report, 2000). People who injected drugs and their sex partners in the year 2000 represented about one-third of all those who had been infected with HIV in the United States of America since 1981. Therefore, for these populations, prevention strategies emphasized preventing drug abuse and treating drug abusers and decreasing needle-sharing (HIV,/AIDS Surveillance Report, 1998). He established that most substance abuses were in combinations and the
most vulnerable age group was 16-20 years.

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