HIV on rise among injecting drug users

JOHANNESBURG: An estimated three million injecting drug users in 120 countries around the world are HIV positive, according to new research, but a lack of data from Africa, the Middle East and Latin America could be obscuring an even larger global health problem.

The study, published in British medical journal, looked at the prevalence of injecting drug use in 148 countries and the prevalence of HIV among injecting drug users (IDUs) in those countries. It found that in nine countries, including Estonia, Ukraine, Argentina, Indonesia and Kenya, over 40 percent of IDUs were HIV-positive.