Injection of Drugs and HIV

Many people, who are addicted to drugs, inject these harmful substances in their veins with the help of syringes. These drugs include cocaine, opiates, amphetamines and heroin. These drugs are not only harmful for the body, but it also calls for HIV. The contaminated needles carry the HIV virus from the blood vessels of the infected person to the blood vessels of a healthy person to propagate the disease. The drug consumers, who inject drugs through needles, are called IDUs or injected drug users.

Injection of drugs and HIV contraction, prevail the most, in the Far East Asia and North East India. The drug that is most commonly injected is heroin. Cocaine is also used due to its short lasting effect. These two drugs account for 44% of HIV transmission through contaminated needles.

How Injection of drugs and HIV are related?

• The syringes that are used are often shared with one another, as many of these users cannot afford to buy more than one syringe
• If one of these drug users is HIV positive, then there are 90% chances of his needle getting contaminated
• When the contaminated needle is reused by a HIV negative person, then he contracts the disease.
• Injection of drugs and HIV is thus related. In 90% of the cases, HIV propagates through contaminated needles.

Why IDUs are more vulnerable?

• This mode of consuming drugs is illegal in every constitution of the world.
• Therefore, most of the people who indulge in it, refuse to visit the doctors or medical care chambers, fearing the legal punishments and implications
• They do not access proper diagnosis or treatment, as they do not want to live without drugs
• They indulge in this activity very secretively and others cannot report about it.
• Thus, continues their injection of drugs and HIV follows.

Geographical distribution of Injection of drugs and HIV transmission:

It has been found that more than 11.6 million people around the world are IDUs. Out of this, 9.28 millions hail from developing or underdeveloped nations. It is estimated that, one tenth of all HIV cases around the world are caused due to injection of drugs and one out of every five IDUs are suffering from HIV. However, not all the cases are reported as drug addiction may lead to legal punishments. The following statistics show the demographic configuration of the prevalence of drug addiction

• South East and south East Asia- 4.85 millions. 55.5% of them are HIV positive
• Eastern Europe and Central Asia- 2.9 millions. 73.7 % of them are HIV positive
• North America- 1.6 millions
• Sub Saharan Africa- 8.1 lakhs
• Middle east and North Africa- 5.23 lakhs
• Latin America- 3.9 lakhs

Why people become IDUs?

• Injection of drugs yields its effect faster
• It cuts out all other traces of its consumption. People can figure out the traces of drugs if they are consumed via smoking or sniffing
• It is less expensive and considered as a one time investment, as some ignorant people buy one syringe and use it several times later on.

People become addicted to drugs for several reasons. It may be due to the social pressures, poverty, tendency to commit crime, peer pressure, easy availability of drugs, tendency to get isolated from the society or any other mental disorder. However, all these reasons lead to addiction of drugs, which gradually leads to accidental injection of drugs and HIV.