Drug Abuse and AIDS
According to an InfoFacts report issued by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), behaviors that are associated with substance abuse represent “the single largest factor in the spread of HIV infection in the United States.”
About HIV & AIDS
HIV (the Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a retrovirus that leads to AIDS, or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. AIDS is characterized by diminishments to a body’s natural ability to fight off disease and infections – and individuals who have developed AIDS are at risk for developing severe (even fatal) symptoms from opportunistic infections – conditions that pose little or no risk to people with healthy immune systems.
Life expectancies for individuals who have contracted HIV or developed full-blown AIDS have lengthened considerably since the disease was first identified in the 1980s, but no cure or vaccine has yet been developed.
Risk Factors
HIV is transmitted through direct contact with body fluids (such as blood, seminal fluid, vaginal fluid, and breast milk) of a person who has already been infected with the virus. Drug users who use or share unsterile needles or other injection-related paraphernalia are at risk for contracting HIV, as are those whose substance abuse results in a diminished capacity for avoiding high-risk behaviors such as unprotected sex.
Infection Rates
According to data that was collected by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), injection drug use (or IDU) has been a leading cause of HIV infection. A May 2002 report that is posted on the CDC website documented the prevalence of HIV and AIDS among injection drug users:
Since the epidemic began, injection drug use has directly and indirectly accounted for more than one-third (36 percent) of AIDS cases in the United States. This disturbing trend appears to be continuing. Of the 42,156 new cases of AIDS reported in 2000, 11,635 (28 percent) were IDU-associated.
IDU-associated AIDS accounts for a larger proportion of cases among adolescent and adult women than among men. Since the epidemic began, 57 percent of all AIDS cases among women have been attributed to injection drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs, compared with 31 percent of cases among men.
The same CDC report also indicated that drug abusers who steer clear of needles remain at risk for contracting HIV:
Non-injection drugs (such as “crack” cocaine) also contribute to the spread of the epidemic when users trade sex for drugs or money, or when they engage in risky sexual behaviors that they might not engage in when sober.
One CDC study of more than 2,000 young adults in three inner-city neighborhoods found that crack smokers were three times more likely to be infected with HIV than non-smokers.
It is estimated that about 19,000 intravenous drug users contract HIV every year, which corresponds to an annual infection rate of 1.5 per 100 IDUs. This compares to a 0.7 per 100 infection rate for gay and bisexual men, and a 0.5 per 100 rate for at-risk heterosexual individuals. (Heterosexual men and women are considered to be “at risk” for HIV if they regularly have sex with injection drug users or men who are gay or bisexual.)
HIV prevention among users of illicit drugs
With neither a vaccine nor a cure currently available, the fight against HIV and AIDS remains focused on infection prevention. A wide range of community-based outreach programs have been designed to reduce drug use, and lessen the likelihood that those who choose to abuse drugs will engage in practices such as needle sharing and unsafe sex.
One study found that injection drug users who were enrolled in methadone treatment programs were seven times less likely to contract HIV than were IDUs who were not receiving treatment. The researchers who conducted this study also reported that continued involvement in treatment resulted in increasingly lowered likelihoods of infection. Drug treatment programs have also been determined to be successful in reducing the spread of other blood-borne pathogens, such as the viruses that cause hepatitis B and C.
For more information about HIV or AIDS – including testing locations in your area – call the National AIDS Hotline (English: 1-800-342-2437; Spanish: 1-800-344-7432; TDD: 1-800-243-7889), or the National AIDS Clearinghouse (1-800-458-5231), or write to PO Box 6003, Rockville, MD 20849-6003.