Heroin trafficking and
consumption has increased steadily over the past decade in Tanzania, but
limited information regarding HIV and drug use exists for the city of Mwanza.
Our study investigates the epidemiology of drug use, and HIV risk behaviors
among drug users in the northwestern city of Mwanza.
Using a combination of
targeted sampling and participant referral, we recruited 480 participants in Mwanza
between June and August 2014. The sample was 92% male. Seventy-nine (16.4%)
participants reported injecting heroin, while 434 (90.4%) reported smoking
heroin. Unstable housing and cohabitation status were the only socioeconomic
characteristics significantly associated with heroin injection. More than half
of heroin injectors left syringes in common locations, and half reported
sharing needles and syringes.
Other risk behaviors such as lack of condom use
during sex, and the use of illicit drugs during sex was widely reported as
well. Among the study sample, there was poor awareness of health risks posed by
needle/syringe sharing and drug use.
Our results show that heroin use and HIV
risk related behaviors are pressing problems that should not be ignored in
Mwanza. Harm reduction programs are urgently needed in this population.
Below: Profile of self-reported drug use among drug users in Mwanza, Tanzania
Full article at: http://goo.gl/o91QIB
By:
Annabel Xulin Tan, Kaveh Khoshnood
Yale School of Public Health,
New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
Saidi Kapiga
Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit,
Mwanza, Tanzania
R. Douglas Bruce
Cornell Scott-Hill Health
Center, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
R. Douglas Bruce
Yale University School of
Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv_insight
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