Category Archives: People who use drugs
Evidence for optimal HIV screening and testing intervals in HIV-negative individuals from various risk groups: A systematic review
Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing plays a crucial role in Canada’s HIV prevention and treatment efforts and is the first step to achieving the Joint United Nations Programme on...
Sexually transmitted hepatitis C virus infections: Current trends, and recent advances in understanding the spread in men who have sex with men
INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major public health threat. Although the recent availability of highly effective directly acting antivirals created optimism towards HCV elimination, there is ongoing transmission...
Multi-level experiences and determinants of alcohol misuse and illicit drug use among occupational groups at high-risk of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa: A thematic synthesis of qualitative findings
Occupational groups at high-risk of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) may be at increased risk of substance use because of occupation-related factors. We synthesised qualitative data on determinants and context...
HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs (PWID) and related factors in Iran: A systematic review, meta-analysis and trend analysis
AIMS: In Iran, injecting drug use has been the major route of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission. In order to control the HIV epidemic, a harm reduction program was initiated...
Understanding user perspectives of and preferences for oral PrEP for HIV prevention in the context of intervention scale-up: A synthesis of evidence from sub-Saharan Africa
INTRODUCTION: Oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention has been proven to significantly reduce new HIV infections yet scale-up has been slow. As contexts continue to adjust to make space...
Prevalence of HIV, hepatitis B and C virus co-infections among Iranian high-risk groups: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Co-infection with hepatitis B and C among HIV infected patients are prevalent among high-risk populations. This meta-analysis aimed to estimate the prevalence of HIV, HCV and HBV co-infections among high-risk...
Suboptimal HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis awareness and willingness to use among women who use drugs in the United States: A systematic review and meta-analysis
In the United States (U.S.), more than 12 million women reported illicit drug use in the past month. Drug use has been linked to increased risk for HIV, but little...
How does hard-to-reach status affect antiretroviral therapy adherence in the HIV-infected population? Results from a meta-analysis of observational studies
BACKGROUND: Socially disadvantaged groups, such as drug users, sex workers and homeless individuals, are labelled as “hard-to-reach” (HTR) in public health and medical research. HIV disproportionately impacts these populations, but...
Prevalence of HIV, HCV and HBV infection and sociodemographic characteristics of people who inject drugs in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Globally, China is the largest country by population and contributes substantially to the burden of people who inject drugs (PWID). The aims of this study were to estimate the...
Integrated care of severe infectious diseases to people with substance use disorders; a systematic review
BACKGROUND: Various integrated care models have been used to improve treatment completion of medications for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV), chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB), and Human...
