Epidemic Characteristics of Drug Use in Minsk

Abstract

In recent years, the number of people involved in the use of illicit drugs has been actively growing. Drug use is associated not only with a large amount of medical aspects, but also with a number of social problems, such as convictions, employment, etc. The study presents an analysis of medical, social and epidemiological indicators, as well as their dynamic change during 2010-2019 in the population of drug users in Minsk. It was revealed that more than half of registered drug users suffer from the opioid drugs use and characterized by a gradual increase in the proportion of persons using psychostimulants. The majority of persons who were registered with the Healthcare Institution «City Clinical Narcological Dispensary» had secondary education and were single. There was an increase in the share of the working drug users (up to 48.65% (CI 47.31-49.99%, p < 0.05) in 2019) in the social structure. The proportion of drug users convicted more than 2 times in 2010-2019 has significantly increased to 35.95% (CI 34.67-37.25%, p < 0.05) in 2019. The share of drug users who underwent hospital treatment significantly increased by the 2015 and was 32.15% (CI 30.96-33.36%, p < 0.05), but in 2019 this indicator decreased to 17.48% (CI 16.47-18.52%, p < 0,05).