Injection Risk Behavior among Women Syringe Exchangers in San Francisco

HIV Epidemics in the European Region: Vulnerability and Response

“…An effect of homophobia in the region is generating mobility among MSM who tend to move or travel to urban centers, which are often considered more gay-friendly and less stigmatizing [25,34,35]. The surveys we reviewed suggested that a significant minority of MSM are migrants-as much as 15% in many locations [25,[36][37][38]. Studies of MSM in some cities show a higher prevalence of HIV among migrant MSM [39].…”

“…Our interpretation of an enabling policy environment drew on guidelines generated by WHO [35], UNAIDS [36], international NGOs [37], and peerreviewed papers in this field [9,12,14,38]. As outlined in box A.1, the core items of the index included country-level indicators of (a) coordinated national strategy for HIV prevention and drug use (indicated by evidence of explicit inclusion of "harm reduction" in national-level strategy and monitoring and evaluating HIV epidemics); (b) meaningful engagement of stakeholders in HIV prevention policy formation and programming (indicated by evidence of a national organization of drug users); and (c) evidence-based HIV prevention intervention approaches (indicated by presence of OST and NSP, presence of OST and NSP in prison settings, and evidence of deemphasizing criminalization through the use of administrative penalties for drug use possession for personal use).…”

“…Seven of the studies used in Estonia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, and Tajikistan employed respondent-driven sampling (RDS) to recruit PWID from community settings [20,[37][38][39][40][41][42]. In RDS, sampling begins with a set of initial subjects who serve as seeds for an expanding chain of referrals recruited through dual incentives, one received for participating in the study and subsequent ones for each person recruited.…”

“…In addition to direct measures of HIV prevalence, at least one behavioral survey had been undertaken among PWID in 37 (74%) countries: 50% (10) [37,67,68]. Are these shifts in prevalence a true reflection of trends or is there an alternative explanation?…”

“…[113], Russia (prospective cohort) [37], Spain (retrospective cohort, record linkage) [114], and the United Kingdom (prospective cohort) [115]. There were three countries with published incidences among MSM; Italy (retrospective cohort, case note), the Netherlands (prospective cohort) [117], and the United Kingdom (STARHS/RITA) [118].…”