Improved antiretroviral treatment access requires decriminalization
A paper in The Lancet Series on HIV in people who use drugs says that in order to improve access to antiretroviral therapy among injecting drug users (IDUs), health providers must focus less on individual patient's ability to adhere to treatment, and more on conditions of health delivery that create treatment interruptions. Among low-income and middle-income countries, almost half of all injecting drug users with HIV are in just five of these countries: China, Vietnam, Russia, Ukraine, and Malaysia. Access to antiretroviral treatment (ART) is disproportionately low in these countries -IDUs make up two thirds of cumulative HIV cases in these countries, but only 25% of patients receiving ART. This third paper is by Daniel Wolfe, Open Society Institute, International Harm Reduction Development Program, New York, USA, and colleagues.