|
Profiles of injecting drug users, their injecting risk behaviors*. |
|||
| Private, stable injectors |
Unstable injectors |
||
|
|
|||
| Primary districts representing the profile |
A |
S, B |
V, O |
|
|
|||
| Relative size † |
Majority |
minority |
minority |
|
|
|||
| Stability continuum |
Unstable -------------------------------------------------------- Stable |
||
|
|
|||
| Distinguishing characteristics |
Predominantly male, live at home with family, stable resources (shelter, food, income from family), |
Predominantly young males, live at home with family but inject in public places or 'secure houses', limited resources (unemployed, dependent on family/ friends, some criminal involvement), shared injections for economic and emotional support, prevention of overdose |
Predominantly young males, live and inject in public places, poor health & hygiene, very limited/no resources (unemployed, criminal involvement common), multiple social problems (divorce, poverty, familial conflict); the most extreme of this group were the 'end-stage users' |
| HIV & injecting risk continuum |
Higher risk ---------------------------------------------------- Lower risk |
||
|
|
|||
| Syringe use practices: hygiene and injecting customs |
Boiling, direct heating of point |
Licking point, rinsing with water, flushing with boiling water, wiping with cloth or paper; repeated reuse of syringes; injecting practices involving repeated injection of blood ("blood play") |
Licking point, rinsing with water, wiping with cloth or paper, or none; repeated reuse of syringes; injecting practices involving repeated injection of blood ("blood play"); often inject alone |
| Syringe use practices: sharing behaviors |
Few syringe sharing occasions; frequent other equipment sharing |
Many sharing occasions; sharing of other equipment typical |
Primarily syringe sharing occasions; primarily sharing of other equipment |
| Access to harm reduction materials #38; risk awareness |
access to pharmacy-sold syringes |
limited access to pharmacy-sold syringes; aware of HIV and injecting risks but continue to share |
limited access to pharmacy-sold syringes and lack of awareness of risk drives sharing behaviors |
|
*Note, Maghsud-Beik district was not noted for its injecting drug use and thus does not appear as a primary district for any of the IDU profiles. A = Amiriye, S = 13thAban, B = Bagh-e-Azari, V = Vali-e-Asr, O = Audlajan † Relative size was determined through the key informant interviews and secondary data sources for all districts (e.g., admissions to drug treatment, overdose deaths, etc.) | |||
Razzaghi et al. Harm Reduction Journal 2006 3:12 doi:10.1186/1477-7517-3-12 |
|||