On this page you can find relevant researchs on drug-related health topics, including HIV, hepatitis C, drug and overdose prevention, harm reduction and drug treatment. You can also find our Clinical Guidelines.

Interview: Michel Kazatchkine
Listen to Professor Michel Kazatchkine giving the Alison Chesney and Eddie Killoran lecture - inspiring.
"A real good news story"
Interview with Ingrid van Beek about the benefits and sense behind injecting facilities.
How to treat the treatment system
Dr M Reisinger discusses how treatment should be available for all patients who need it and there should be no waiting-lists. To reach this availability primary care physicians should provide these treatments. Regulations should be eased, because excessive regulations and controls are counter- productive. They are a barrier to treatment and they increase the risk of death for patients.
West Africa’s drug trade: reasons for concern and hope
An editorial in Addiction states that West Africa has recently emerged as a major focus for international drug policy, mainly in response to largescale cocaine seizures. The policy response has been concentrated on the criminal justice system, “However, limited data exist regarding the rates of local drug use in West Africa, and public health initiatives related to treatment have been sidelined.”
Shooting Up: Infections among people who inject drugs in the UK 2012. An update: November 2013
Public Health England report on the changing face of injecting drug use in the UK. Including the people who inject, image and performance enhancing drugs, such as anabolic steroids and melanotan. They are at greater risk of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C infection than previously thought. To minimize the harm from injecting drug use, changes in the patterns of use that increase infection risk need to be detected and responded to promptly.
When sex work and drug use overlap: Considerations for advocacy and practice
Harm Reduction International give a detailed report examines the overlap between people use drugs and sell sex. It provides a "snapshot of available evidence on the factors that contribute to their vulnerability and aims to draw attention to this often neglected area, and inform policy and programmatic discussions."
ACCESS CHALLENGES FOR HIV TREATMENT: Among People Living with HIV and Key Populations in Middle-Income Countries
Sarah Zaidi et. al policy briefing states access to treatment for a whole range of illnesses, infectious and non- communicable diseases, has made survival possible. “Wealthy countries with comprehensive health insurance coverage consider expensive medicines as an acceptable part of health care. But for the vast majority PLHIV and members of key populations including PUD, medicines are unaffordable and economic costs of illness are high for the individual, the family, community, and country. The challenge, for all countries including for Middle Income Countries, is securing treatment that is financially sustainable particularly in the case of HIV”
Medication-Assisted Treatment With Methadone: Assessing the Evidence
Catherine Anne Fullerton et. al examined the effectiveness of Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) to assist individuals with an opioid use disorder abstain from or decrease use of illegal or nonmedical opiates. They conclude “MMT is associated with improved outcomes for individuals and pregnant women with opioid use disorders. MMT should be a covered service available to all individuals”
IDPC: Response to the UNODC World Drug Report 2013
International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) response to the UNODC Report 2013, highlighting that the report “represents an impressive and wide-ranging set of data, analysis and policy prescription, and provides an overview of recent trends and the current situation in terms of production, trafficking, and consumption, including the consequences of illicit drug use on health.”
The Uncomfortable Truth - Hepatitis C in England: The State of the Nation
In this report the Hepatitis C Trust state that there must be no more excuses for the rising tide of deaths from hepatitis C, as it is a preventable and curable virus. The report "reveals plainly the link between hepatitis C and deprivation. Almost half of patients with hepatitis C who go to hospital are from the poorest fifth of society. It begs the question: has hepatitis C been overlooked for all these years, resulting in spiralling hospital admissions and deaths, because of the people it impacts?"
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