People who inject drugs experience more environmental risks for obtaining HIV (1 in 10 new HIV infections result from injection drug use, while almost 1 in 5 people living with HIV are people who inject drugs) yet are less likely to get certain treatment, such as antiretroviral treatment (ART), than those who have contracted the virus through other modes of transmission.
According to a recent National Institute of Drug Use survey, participating health care providers were twice as likely to refuse ART to a patient with HIV if the patient is a regular IDU, than they would be if the person was not.
What is to be done? Simple. Educate healthcare professionals about injection drug use, present to service providers about harm reduction and include people who inject drugs in the daily workings of our society.
If you want to get involved with Denver’s only service provider educating, empowering and advocating with people who inject drugs in Denver, sign up for the
Harm Reduction Action Center's bi-weekly or monthly newsletter by contacting Iain at iain.harm.reduction@gmail.com.
