The Impact of Needle and Syringe Programs on HIV and HCV Transmissions in Injecting Drug Users in Australia: A Model-Based Analysis

Abstract

This research highlights the large benefits of NSPs, puts forward a quantitative relationship between incidence and syringe distribution, and indicates that increased coverage could result in significant reductions in viral transmissions among IDUs.

Recent HIV-1 Outbreak Among Intravenous Drug Users in Romania: Evidence for Cocirculation of CRF14_BG and Subtype F1 Strains

“…26 Moreover, mathematical models of HIV and HCV transmission among IDUs who share needles showed that the minimum duration of injecting required to induce an epidemic is 11.6 years for HIV and only 2.3 years for HCV. 27 Travel to European countries, mainly to Spain and Greece, was reported by 40% of the IDUs studied and the proportion was higher in CRF14_BG-infected IDUs than in those infected with other subtypes. The majority admitted injecting drugs and/or engaging in unprotected sex while traveling.…”

The effectiveness of harm reduction in preventing HIV among injecting drug users

“…45 Mathematical modelling suggests that while HIV remains low and stable among IDUs, even relatively minor reductions in current levels of NSP coverage could result in a significant increase in incident infections. 46 Moreover, if an HIV epidemic were to eventuate among IDUs in Australia, it is likely that this would involve one or more vulnerable populations with poor HIV prevention access and coverage. This includes IDUs from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities 24 and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, especially ethnic Vietnamese, 47 and incarcerated IDUs.…”

Impact of Needle and Syringe Program Coverage on HIV Incidence in People Who Inject Drugs

“…Although education and counseling is designed to reduce syringe sharing, increasing syringe coverage through NSPs is likely to be the most effective strategy to reduce incident infections. Increasing syringe coverage aims to decrease the number of times each syringe is shared and reduce the frequency of sharing (38,39). Iran has been able to effectively introduce NSPs and increase the coverage of sterile injecting equipment.…”