Biomaterial Database

Preventing the spread of HIV among Australian injecting drug users. 1993

A Wodak

Alcohol and Drug Service, St. Vincent's Hospital, Darlinghurst, Australia.

Control of HIV infection among and from injecting drug users is critical for the long-term control of HIV infection in Australia. There is now consistent and strong evidence that the prevalence of HIV infection among Australian injecting drug users is still low. Recent evidence suggests that Australian injecting drug users are reducing injecting behaviour associated with HIV infection. Australian adopted harm reduction policies early and implemented a comprehensive range of programmes vigorously. These were designed to reduce the spread of HIV infection in this population. The most plausible explanation for the low prevalence of HIV infection in Australia is the adoption and implementation of these policies and programmes, although it is unrealistic to expect that this can be proved in a definitive way. Control of HIV infection in Australian injecting drug users represents one of the major public health triumphs in this country in the past decade and probably reduced the present cumulative number of AIDS cases by 1200, AIDS deaths by 800 and expenditure on AIDS by at least $60 million. However, recent international experience in this area is alarming. The prevalence of HIV infection in injecting drug users in Australia will probably rise in the future. Complacency, failure to implement HIV prevention in prisons (including especially bleach distribution), continued emphasis on supply reduction drug policy and a failure to foster a research capability will ensure that this happens sooner rather than later.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D011330	Prisons	Penal institutions, or places of long-term confinement for prisoners.	Penitentiaries,Penitentiary,Prison
D011635	Public Health Administration	Management of public health organizations or agencies.	Administration, Public Health
D003140	Communicable Disease Control	Programs of surveillance designed to prevent the transmission of disease by any means from person to person or from animal to man.	Flatten the Curve of Epidemic,Flattening the Curve, Communicable Disease Control,Parasite Control,Control, Communicable Disease,Control, Parasite
D005102	Health Expenditures	The amounts spent by individuals, groups, nations, or private or public organizations for total health care and/or its various components. These amounts may or may not be equivalent to the actual costs (HEALTH CARE COSTS) and may or may not be shared among the patient, insurers, and/or employers.	Expenditure,Expenditures, Health,Health Expenditure,Out Of Pocket Expenditure,Out-of-Pocket Cost,Out-of-Pocket Expense,Out-of-Pocket Payment,Expenditures,Expenditures, Direct,Expenditures, Indirect,Expenditures, Out-of-Pocket,Out-of Pocket Expenditures,Out-of-Pocket Costs,Out-of-Pocket Expenses,Out-of-Pocket Payments,Out-of-Pocket Spending,Cost, Out-of-Pocket,Costs, Out-of-Pocket,Direct Expenditure,Direct Expenditures,Expenditure, Direct,Expenditure, Health,Expenditure, Indirect,Expenditure, Out-of Pocket,Expenditure, Out-of-Pocket,Expenditures, Out of Pocket,Expenditures, Out-of Pocket,Expense, Out-of-Pocket,Expenses, Out-of-Pocket,Indirect Expenditure,Indirect Expenditures,Out of Pocket Cost,Out of Pocket Costs,Out of Pocket Expenditures,Out of Pocket Expense,Out of Pocket Expenses,Out of Pocket Payment,Out of Pocket Payments,Out of Pocket Spending,Out-of Pocket Expenditure,Out-of-Pocket Expenditure,Out-of-Pocket Expenditures,Payment, Out-of-Pocket,Payments, Out-of-Pocket,Spending, Out-of-Pocket
D005544	Forecasting	The prediction or projection of the nature of future problems or existing conditions based upon the extrapolation or interpretation of existing scientific data or by the application of scientific methodology.	Futurology,Projections and Predictions,Future,Predictions and Projections
D006291	Health Policy	Decisions, usually developed by government policymakers, for determining present and future objectives pertaining to the health care system.	Health Care Policies,Health Policies,Healthcare Policy,National Health Policy,Care Policies, Health,Health Care Policy,Health Policy, National,Healthcare Policies,National Health Policies,Policies, Health,Policies, Health Care,Policies, Healthcare,Policy, Health,Policy, Health Care,Policy, Healthcare
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001315	Australia	The smallest continent and an independent country, comprising six states and two territories. Its capital is Canberra.	Canton and Enderbury Islands,Christmas Island,Christmas Island (Australia)
D012307	Risk Factors	An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, inborn or inherited characteristic, which, based on epidemiological evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.	Health Correlates,Risk Factor Scores,Risk Scores,Social Risk Factors,Population at Risk,Populations at Risk,Correlates, Health,Factor, Risk,Factor, Social Risk,Factors, Social Risk,Risk Factor,Risk Factor Score,Risk Factor, Social,Risk Factors, Social,Risk Score,Score, Risk,Score, Risk Factor,Social Risk Factor
D015438	Health Behavior	Combination of HEALTH KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, PRACTICE which underlie actions taken by individuals regarding their health.	Health-Related Behavior,Behavior, Health,Behavior, Health-Related,Behaviors, Health,Behaviors, Health-Related,Health Behaviors,Health Related Behavior,Health-Related Behaviors