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Injection Drug Users (IDUs) / Substance Abusers

Sharing syringes and other equipment for drug injection is a well-known route of HIV transmission, yet injection drug use contributes to the epidemic's spread far beyond the circle of those who inject.1Injection drug users, their partners, and their children account for at least 36% of all AIDS cases reported in the United States through 1999.2

Racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States are most heavily affected by IDU-associated AIDS. In 2000, IDU-associated AIDS accounted for 26% of all AIDS cases among African American and 31% among Hispanic adults and adolescents, compared with 19% of all cases among white adults/adolescents.3

IDU-associated AIDS accounts for a larger proportion of cases among adolescent and adult women than among men. Since the epidemic began, 57% of all AIDS cases among women have been attributed to injection drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs, compared with 31% of cases among men.4


Featured Links

HIV-Associated Behaviors Among Injecting-Drug Users—23 Cities, United States, May 2005–February 2006
From CDC's MMWR Weekly; April 10, 2009 / 58(13);329-332

HIV/AIDS Surveillance in Injection Drug Users (IDU) (slide set)
From CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

What Are Injection Drug Users (IDU) HIV Prevention Needs?
From the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies
En espańol

Best Practices in TB Control: Working with Substance Users and Homeless Populations
From the New Jersey Medical School Global Tuberculosis Institute

MMWR: Syringe Exchange Programs—United States, 2005
From CDC’s MMWR Weekly November 9, 2007 / 56(44);1164-1167

HIV Diagnoses Among Injection-Drug Users in States with HIV Surveillance--25 States, 1994-2000
MMWR: July 11, 2003 / Vol. 52 / 27:634-636

Principles of HIV Prevention in Drug-Using Populations
Manual produced by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Drug-Associated HIV Transmission Continues in the United States
Fact sheet from the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention

Crisis Among Gay Men: Crystal Methamphetamine Use Linked to Rising HIV and STD Rates
Fact Sheet from The National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) and the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD)

Working with the Active User
Fact sheet from HIV Clinical Resource

HIV and Substance Abuse Clinical Guidelines
Fact sheets from HIV Clinical Resource


1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Drug-Associated HIV Transmission Continues in the United States
2 CDC. HIV Prevention Strategic Plan Through 2005
3 CDC. Drug-Associated HIV Transmission Continues in the United States
4 CDC. Drug-Associated HIV Transmission Continues in the United States


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