Correlates of HIV Risk Among Injecting Drug Users in Sixteen Ukrainian Cities

Abstract

We present findings from a HIV survey using respondent driven sampling among 3,711 injecting drug users (IDUs) in 16 cities in Ukraine in 2008. Eligible participants were males and females who injected drugs in the past 1 month, ≥ 16 years and lived/worked in their respective interview area. The impact of injecting and sexual risk behaviors on HIV-infection were analyzed using four logistic models. Overall HIV prevalence was 32%. In the sexual risk model, paying for sex in the past 3 months and condom use during last sex increased the odds of HIV infection. Being female, having greater than 3 years of injection drug use, always sharing equipment and using alcohol with drugs in the past month remained significant in all four models. These findings indicate the urgent need to scale up peer education, needle exchange and methadone substitution programs for IDUs with specific programs targeting the needs of female injectors.

HIV among people who inject drugs in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia: a systematic review with implications for policy

“…No studies examined risk factors linked to HIV in the Centre, and so we summarise the findings of the multivariate HIV risk factor analyses from 14 papers identified by our review in the East,49 51–53 57 65 72 73 88 113 121 123–125 although two65 72 present new analyses of data already published in other papers also presented here 123 125 Table 1. summarises the key characteristics of the 14 papers as well as the factors explored in the multivariate analysis.…”

“…Of these measures, only an individual's employment status showed a consistent association with HIV, with unemployed individuals or those having a main source of income that was not work, showing greater odds of HIV than others 53 57 88 121. An Estonian multilevel study included neighbourhood level data in its analyses and found neighbourhood level effects of unemployment (10% increment in unemployment AOR 5.95, 95% CI 2.47 to 14.31) and habitat change since 1989 (10% change AOR 1.89, 95% CI 1.09 to 3.26) to be both associated with HIV prevalence (results not presented).…”

Correlates of HIV infection and being unaware of HIV status among soon‐to‐be‐released Ukrainian prisoners

“…These data suggest that serosorting may have occurred among sexual partners since knowing one's status markedly reduces risk to others, but further data are needed. Irrespective of whether serosorting occurred or not, the magnitude of risky behaviours, especially under the influence of drugs by those aware of their HIV status remains a concern, and may point to inadequate access to evidence-based HIV risk reduction programmes that effectively curb secondary transmission [59]. At a minimum, recent data point to low coverage of harm reduction programmes such as needle/syringe exchange (NSP) and OST programmes as reasons for increased drug-related risk behaviours [8, 60, 61].…”

The effects of opioid-agonist treatments on HIV risk and social stability: A mixed methods study of women with opioid use disorder in Ukraine

“…Women who inject drugs (WWID) are disproportionately infected with HIV: while women account for 27% of all PWID, they represent 45% of PWID who have HIV in Ukraine (Springer et al, 2015; Ukraine, 2014). In an analysis of PWID at three sites in Ukraine, being female was an independent predictor of HIV status (Booth et al, 2006) and in a study of 16 Ukrainian cities, women were more likely than men to have HIV (Taran, Johnston, Pohorila, & Saliuk, 2011). Women in Ukraine also report more sex- and injection-related risk behaviors than men despite having higher levels of HIV knowledge (Corsi et al, 2014).…”