Antiretroviral Treatment Reduces Spread of HIV Among Injection Drug Users

published on May 24, 2012 in NIDA

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) not only benefits the health of individuals with HIV and a history of injection drug use but also reduces transmission of the virus to others in the community. Using province-wide data from British Columbia from 1996 to 2009, NIDA-funded researchers found a strong association between more extensive treatment with HAART and reductions in new HIV diagnoses per year, as well as decreased viral load in patients.

During the study period, as the province expanded HAART coverage more than five-fold as part of its universal health care program, new HIV diagnoses decreased about 50 percent, says lead investigator Dr. Julio Montaner of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Canada. The increase in the number of people receiving HAART during the last 5 years of the study was accompanied by a greater decrease in new HIV cases among those with histories of illicit injection drug use than among those with no such history.

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(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

© Copyright BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
St. Paul's Hospital 608–1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-8477 | Fax: 604-806-9044
General inquiries: info@bccfe.ca
Media inquiries: communications@bccfe.ca
(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

Our work serves clients and communities across British Columbia on lands and waters cared for and nurtured by the many distinct First Nations across the province. The BC-CfE humbly and gratefully acknowledge the stewards of these lands, particularly the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) on whose unceded, traditional and ancestral territories our offices are located.