Injecting Drug Users, HIV and Hepatitis C

First Time Users at most Risk of HIV and Hep C

More and more evidence is coming forward to show that many intravenous drug users are infected with blood borne diseases like HIV, Hepatitis C (HCV) and Hepatitis B within their first year of injecting drug use. This can include many young people 'experimenting' for the first time, who may or may not go on to have an injecting 'career'. Lack of awareness and education about safer 'injecting drug use is one theory behind the high incidence as is the lack of access to clean equipment.

First time users are not in contact with agencies, where they would get the information they need as well as clean 'works'.

Perhaps the time has come when we can no longer be complacent, or naive, particularly about younger peoples' drug use. Findings in the survey by the British Market Research Bureau for the Health Education Authority show that two thirds of teenagers aged 11-15 have been offered illegal drugs. Among 15 year olds, 5% have been offered heroin, while 1% have used crack and 6% have been offered cocaine, 2% have used cocaine. These figures leap dramatically to 20% having been offered ecstacy, 4% having used it, 24% offered amphetamines, 11% have used them, 25% offered acid, 11% having used it, and 50% offered cannabis and 35% having used it.

Young drug users remain invisible, and therefore out of reach of health educators, until they either present themselves for help for their opiate/cocaine addiction at specialist and community agencies or are commited for a drug related offence. The evidence for the danger period with regard to infection suggests that by then it may be too late to prevent their being infected with HIV, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, etc..

Current 'safer injecting practices' information desperately needs revising to include information about; longer sterilising times (HCV prevention), danger of other shared paraphaenalia like filters and water, and the risk from sharing 'snorting' equipment for cocaine users, to name but a few.

In a climate where young people turn to opiates to 'straighten out' after a binge on ecstacy, where opiates may be bought more cheaply than cannabis, and where opiates are preferred to cannabis by people exposed to urine screening (in prisons and increasingly in the work place), the time is already upon us when we need to find ways to get the relevant information to young people or those experimenting with drugs, very early on, BEFORE they are using drugs rather than after.

Ref.: Mainliners Newsletter - April 1997

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