HIV/AIDS and injection drug use in the neighborhoods of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
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Date
2006
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Abstract
This study examines the intersection between needle-sharing practices and HIV
recovered from used syringes collected from 73 heroin injection drug users (IDUs) in
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, between October 2003 and January 2004. To extract blood
residue, syringes were flushed and 10 microliters of solution mixed with 120
microliters of a latex solution was placed on a Capillus HIV-1/2 slide. Thirty-five
(57%) of the useable syringes tested positive for HIV antibodies. Results varied
significantly: 90% of syringes tested HIV positive in a mixed-income neighborhood 2
kilometers from the city center: 0% of syringes tested HIV positive in the outlying
areas. In addition, semistructured interviews were conducted with 51 IDUs. The
interviews were content coded and codes were collapsed into emergent themes
regarding syringe-use practices. Injecting is a recent practice, particularly among
heroin users in neighborhoods far from the city center. Sharing syringes has resulted
in a high proportion of used syringes containing HIV-positive blood residue.
Geographic distance is an indicator of recent adoption of IDU in neighborhoods and
correlates strongly with the distribution of syringes containing HIV-positive blood
residue.
Keywords." Heroin; Injection; Needle sharing; HIV risk; Africa; Urban
Description
Keywords
Heroin, HIV risk, Africa
Citation
McCurdy, S.A., Ross, M.W., Kilonzo, G.P., Leshabari, M.T. and Williams, M.L., 2006. HIV/AIDS and injection drug use in the neighborhoods of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 82, pp.S23-S27.