Department
Biology Department
Description or Abstract
Aim: This study aims to provide an updated estimate of HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs (PWID) globally, as well as investigate different policies and methods for applying harm reduction. This article focuses on the two major and the most frequently used harm reduction techniques, Syringe-Service Programs (SSPs) and Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT). Methods: A comprehensive systematic review was undertaken across multiple international databases during the period of (August-December 2021). For studies conducted before 2005, we used data from a previous published systematic review. Thirty-six studies were included, including studies that had performed HIV testing and had a confirmed diagnosis of HIV through repeating the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or Western immunoblot assay (WB) and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Results: Both methods similarly achieve a significant decline in the incidence of new HIV cases among PWID. In fact, 22 out of 36 studies show a reduction in HIV incidence as a result of harm reduction programs implementation, where the highest reduction is noticed in the already high incidence countries and the lowest impact lies inside the low incidence countries
Keywords
HIV, PWID, Harm reduction, SSP, OAT
Faculty Advisor
Mahmoud Shaltout
Course
Introduction to Epidemiology GHHE5120
Content Type
Article
Extent
19 p.
Language
eng
Recommended Citation
Shaltout, Noura; Soliman, Rania; Refaey, Lamia; Ghazal, Rim; Atteya, Mirna; and ElMedany, Nahla, "A systematic review to study the global patterns and policies of HIV harm reduction programs and their impact among people who inject drugs" (2023). Papers, Posters, and Presentations. 112.
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/studenttxt/112