Risk factors of HIV infection and needle sharing among injecting drug users in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

Abstract

The HIV prevalence in 1998 among IDUs was 44% for those on the street and 38.5% for those in the rehabilitation center. Independent predictors for HIV infection in IDUs were being injected by drug dealers (for the 1997 sample), injecting on the street, and sharing the drug pots (for the 1998 sample). The reported rate of needle sharing was low and decreased significantly from 20% in 1995 to 12% in 1998 for the sample of IDUs at the street. In the multivariate analysis, predictors for needle sharing for both study samples were injecting on the street, injecting at shooting galleries, and having shared needles in the past. Adequate and easy access to sterile needles and syringes, and a supportive environment of behavior change, especially in street and shooting gallery could reduce risks of virus transmission in the Vietnamese IDU community.

Changes in High-Risk Behaviors Over Time Among Young Drug Users in South Vietnam: A Three-Province Study

“…Needle sharing in our study was reported by only one-quarter of those injecting drugs, and is considerably less than in other surveys in which up to 70% of injectors in urban settings reported sharing equipment (Hien et al, 2001;Nguyen et al, 2001;Tran et al, 1998). Other reasons for varying rates of sharing may be related to cost, availability of clean needles and concerns about arrest if caught with injection equipment.…”

Drug use among female sex workers in Hanoi, Vietnam

“…The fact that the majority of drug-using FSWs in Hanoi began involvement in drugs within the past 6 years (from 1996) and that most started injecting only within the past 4 years (from 1998) probably explains the recent outbreak of HIV among them. Previous studies among IDUs in Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City showed that about half the male IDUs had visited FSWs [11,15]. Our qualitative studies among male drug users and FSWs in Hanoi suggested a strong relationship between drug-using FSWs and male drugusing clients and non-client partners [13,14].…”

“…Thus, drug use-related characteristics of FSWs have been studied and described thoroughly in these populations [6][7][8][9]. In Vietnam, because the drug use epidemic is relatively current among FSWs and it is difficult to study them, few studies have examined the issue of HIV and drug use among FSWs [2,5,[10][11][12][13][14] and little is known about their drug use behaviors and practices. We conducted a cross-sectional study in Hanoi in 2002 among practising FSWs who were not in drug use or sex worker rehabilitation centers to examine their HIV risk characteristics.…”

Urbanization, Urbanicity, and Health

“…For example, a large body of research about the health of drug users, particularly with respect to the spread of HIV and other infectious diseases, has explored individual risk behaviors that are important within this group, often with a limited focus on how living in cities affected these risk behaviors. [19][20][21] Other work has focused on the health of minority populations, groups that have historically been over-represented in urban areas. For example, there is a growing appreciation of the excess burden of cardiovascular disease and diabetes among urban African American populations in the United States.…”