The case of India has been seen as a model of an intelligent and integrated use of data for an evidence-based response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic (Sgaier & Chandramouli (STI)). Avahan, the India HIV/AIDS initiative, can claim considerable success in reducing incidence among ‘bridging’ populations – by 21-45% among female sex-workers, and among their clients […]
Category: HIV and drugs
Heterosexual chemsex?
Much in the news at the moment is a recent study (Palamar & Cleland) of nonmedical opioid drug use amongst you people on the electronic dance music (EDM) ‘scene’ in New York. But the phenomenon is by no means confined to that city (Kurtz & Surratt). To appreciate what all the fuss is about, we […]
So how much do we actually know about the risks posed by ‘chemsex’?
A recent BMJ editorial (3rd November) calls for ‘chemsex’ (the term used by the gay community to designate sex under the influence of drugs taken to heighten pleasure) to be made a ‘public health priority’. The editorial has evidently been triggered by the publication of findings from a research project conducted by Sigma Research and […]
Indiana State ban on Needle Share programmes faces challenge of an IDU-fuelled HIV spike
In 2011 18.5% of HIV infections in the US were attributable to intravenous drug-use (IDU) – a significant proportion (Lansky & Wejnert (STIs)). The issue of IDU fuelled HIV transmission has been brought forcibly to the attention of Americans in the last few weeks by the recent HIV outbreak in Scott County, Indiana, US. This […]
Living dangerously in the Dominican Republic and Mexico City: can cash transfer payments be used to counteract the “risk premium”?
The Caribbean has the highest levels of HIV outside sub-Saharan Africa – and the Dominican Republic (DR), which together with Haiti accounts for 70% of all people living with HIV in the Caribbean region, is a hotspot. While there has been a 73% reduction in the rate of new infections in the DR between 2001 […]