The prevalence of HIV, HBV, HCV, and HIV-related risk-taking behaviors among Palestinian injecting drug users in the East Jerusalem Governorate.
Author: Štulhofer, A., Chetty, A., Rabie, R.A., Jwehan, I. and Ramlawi, A.
Source:
Journal of Urban Health, 89(4), pp.671-676.
The objective of the study was to determine HIV, HBV, HCV seroprevalence and to
assess HIV risks among Palestinian injecting drug users (IDUs) in the East
Jerusalem Governorate. Following formative research, a bio-behavioral survey
using respondent-driven sampling was carried out in 2010 among 199 IDUs aged
19-56 years(M=41.33, SD=8.09). Venous blood was drawn for biological testing.
Data on drug abuse and sexual behaviors were collected by face-to-face
interviewing. No HIV+cases were found. Five participants were infected with
Hepatitis B and 84 participants(estimated population proportion of 40.3 %) tested
positive for Hepatitis C. A great majority of the surveyed IDUs (90.4 %) reported
using sterile injecting equipment the last time they injected. In a multivariate
assessment, age (OR=2.52, pG.05), education(OR=6.67, pG.01), personal network
size (OR=.18, pG.001), and the frequency of drug injecting in the past month
(OR=.20, pG.001) were associated with using sterile injecting equipment in the
past week. Condom use at most recent sexual intercourse was reported by about a
third (34.2 %) of IDUs. The study documented substantial exposure to HIV risks
among Palestinian IDUs whose vulnerability is inseparable from sociopolitic and
socioeconomic characteristics of their social environment [corrected].