Injecting drugs, drug users, HIV & AIDS

The effect of injection drug use on HIV rates

Roughly one tenth of new HIV infections result from needle sharing, with this figure rising to just under a third outside of sub-Saharan Africa.¹³ One study estimates that just under one-in-five IDUs globally may be infected with HIV.¹⁴ Among the regions where injecting drug use accounts for a majority or highly significant share of HIV prevalence are:¹⁵

• Eastern Europe and Central Asia
  • Russia: 83%
  • Kyrgyzstan: 75%
  • Kazakhstan: 73.6%
  • Ukraine: 64.1%

• East and South-East Asia
  • Malaysia: 72%
  • Indonesia: 54%
  • Vietnam: 52%
  • China: 44.3%

In many other parts of Asia, the Middle East and the Southern cone of Latin America, the sharing of injecting equipment is the primary route of HIV transmission.1