Facts about Drug Use and the Spread of HIV
HIV among Drug Users—Why Is It So Important?
Like drug use, HIV is a public health issue. Although the global response to HIV has made extensive progress over the
past two decades, HIV continues to spread rapidly among people who use illicit drugs in various regions of the
world.
•Today, up to 10 percent of global HIV infections are due to injecting drug use. If Sub-Saharan Africa is
excluded, up to 30 percent of global HIV infections are due to injecting drug use. Source: UNAIDS (2008)
•Ofanestimated15.9millionpeoplewhoinjectdrugsworldwide,upto3millionareinfectedwithHIV.The
highest concentrations of HIV-positive injecting drug users are in Eastern Europe, East and South East Asia
and Latin America. Over 40 percent of injecting drug users are HIV positive in parts of these regions.
Source: Mathers, B. et al. (2008)
Sharing needles and injection equipment is thought to be three times more likely to transmit HIV than sexual
intercourse.
Unsafe injecting drug use helps spread HIV in prison settings. Many drug users are imprisoned instead of receiving
treatment, and often they continue to inject while in detention, adopting riskier injecting practices in the absence of HIV
prevention efforts. Drug users in prison settings are also at increased risk of contracting HIV through unprotected sex
(including sexual violence), as well as body piercing and tattooing with non-sterile equipment.
Other types of illicit drugs are also associated with HIV transmission.Theuseofamphetamine-type stimulants
by men who have sex with men has been associated with high levels of HIV infection in both high-income countries
and other countries, particularly in South East Asia. Crack cocaine has been associated with the sexual transmission of
HIV, especially in sex work and other forms of transactional sex, particularly in the Caribbean.
How Drugs and HIV Policy Can Help Stop the Spread of HIV
Research shows that an HIV epidemic among injecting drug users can be prevented, halted and even
reversed. Yet injecting drug users often have little or no access to HIV prevention and treatment services:
•Globally,only2needlesyringesperinjectingdruguseraredistributedpermonth.
•Only8percentofinjectingdrugusersreceiveopioidsubstitutiontherapy.
•Only4percentofHIV-positiveinjectingdrugusersreceiveantiretroviraltherapy. Source:Mathers,B.etal.(2010)
Moreover, imprisonment for drug use rather than treatment can increase the spread of HIV rather than contain it.
Without drugs and HIV policy supporting evidence-informed programmes for HIV prevention and treatment, HIV
canspreadlikewildreamonginjectingdrugusersandprisoners.ThisalsoposesaseriousriskofspreadingHIVto
the broader community and burdening healthcare and criminal justice systems, especially in low and middle-income
countries.
Drugs and HIV policy can change this.GuaranteeinguniversalaccesstothefullspectrumofHIVprevention,treat-
ment, care and support services for injecting drug users and prisoners can help stop the spread of HIV, which benefits
public health. Providing a comprehensive package of interventions for injecting drug users can also help them to lead
healthier and more productive lives within their communities.
AIDS 2010: Rights Here, Right Now
18th International AIDS Conference
AIDS 2010 is the world’s premier gathering devoted to HIV/AIDS. Convened by
the International AIDS Society in partnership with UNODC and UNAIDS, the
conference will draw global attention to the need for continued AIDS invest-
ments to broaden human rights, health and development goals, particularly
among the most at-risk populations, including injecting drug users and prisoners.
Some 25,000 scientists, policymakers, legislators, healthcare professionals, law
enforcement and criminal justice professionals, civil society representatives
and people living with HIV/AIDS will attend AIDS 2010 to review new scientic
knowledge, take stock of progress and chart a way forward in the effort to end the
global pandemic.
AIDS 2010 offers an excellent opportunity for policymakers and officials in
public health, law enforcement and criminal justice to share lessons and
exchange information on how drugs and HIV policy can help contain and stop
the spread of HIV. AIDS 2010 will include sessions on drug-relatedtopics such
as: setting targets for universal access to HIV services for injecting drug users; HIV
needs assessments in prison settings; and HIV prevention among female injecting
drug users. It will also offer extensive networking opportunities.
TheAIDS2010theme,Rights Here, Right Now, underscores the need for concrete human rights measures to protect
those most vulnerable to and most affected by HIV—including women and girls, people who use drugs, prisoners, sex
workers, migrants, men who have sex with men, and transgender persons. Vienna was chosen as the conference site
in part for its proximity to Eastern Europe, the Baltic States and Central Asia, where HIV is spreading rapidly, largely
through injecting drug use.
UNODC: Reducing the Spread of HIV among Injecting Drug Users,
Prisoners and Other Vulnerable Populations
UNODCistheleadagencywithinUNAIDSforHIVprevention,treatment,careandsupportforinjectingdrugusersand
inprisonsettings.UNODCalsohasaspecialmandatetofacilitatethedevelopmentofaUnitedNationsresponsetoHIV
forpeoplevulnerabletohumantrafcking.TogetherwithothermembersoftheUNAIDSfamily,UNODCisworkingto
achieve universal access to the full spectrum of HIV services for these vulnerable populations.
Withover100staffbasedatthecountrylevel,UNODCworksonHIVin55prioritycountriesinAfrica,EasternEurope
and Central Asia, South and South East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. UNODC helps countries provide
drug users, prisoners and people vulnerable to human trafficking with comprehensive, evidence-informed HIV
services. We do this through:
•Advocacycampaignstoreducestigmatizationanddiscriminationandpromoteadherencetohumanrights;
•Supportfordevelopingeffectivelegislationandpolicies;
•Supportfordevelopingcomprehensive,evidence-basedstrategiesandprogrammes;and
•Building the capacity of national partners—including government agencies, civil society and community
organizations—toensurethatthesemostat-riskgroupsreceiveoptimumHIVservices.
For more information, visit www.unodc.org