Category Archives: People who use drugs
A review of medical and substance use co-morbidities in Central Asian prisons: Implications for HIV prevention and treatment
BACKGROUND: HIV incidence in Central Asia is rising rapidly. People who inject drugs (PWIDs) contribute greatest to the epidemic, with more than a quarter of all HIV cases being in...
HIV testing in community settings in resource-rich countries: A systematic review of the evidence
OBJECTIVES: Community HIV testing represents an opportunity for diagnosing HIV infection among individuals who may not have contact with health services, especially in hard-to-reach groups. The aim of this review...
Global policy review of antiretroviral therapy eligibility criteria for treatment and prevention of HIV and tuberculosis in adults, pregnant women, and serodiscordant couples
OBJECTIVE: This article reviews the antiretroviral therapy (ART)initiation criteria from national treatment guidelines for 70 countries and determines the extent of consistency with the current World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations....
A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of alternative HIV counseling and testing methods to increase knowledge of HIV status
BACKGROUND: Alternatives to conventional HIV counseling and testing (HIV-CT) have been used to improve receipt of HIV test results. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effectiveness of alternative HIV-CT methods on the...
Improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of TB among people living with HIV: The role of operational research
Operational research is necessary to improve the access to and delivery of tuberculosis prevention, diagnosis and treatment interventions for people living with HIV. We conducted an extensive review of the...
Redressing the epidemics of opioid overdose and HIV among people who inject drugs in Central Asia: The need for a syndemic approach
BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence suggests that opioid overdose and HIV infection are burgeoning intertwined epidemics among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Central Asia. To date, however, research on overdose and...
Antiretroviral adherence interventions: Translating research findings to the real world clinic
The success of potent combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV infection is compromised primarily by failure to maintain optimal levels of adherence over the long term. Recent reviews suggest behavioral...
Literature review of HIV among female sex workers in the Central Asian Republics, Afghanistan, and Mongolia: Contexts and convergence with drug use
BACKGROUND: Central Asia is culturally and demographically diverse, both between and within its respective countries. That diversity is represented in the range of individual, network, community, and structural risks for...
Effectiveness of peer education interventions for HIV prevention in developing countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Peer education for HIV prevention has been widely implemented in developing countries, yet the effectiveness of this intervention has not been systematically evaluated. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis...
