Alaska Native drug users and sexually transmitted disease: results of a five-year study

Although Alaska has one of the highest rates of alcohol consumption in the U.S., there are very few reports of other drug use in Alaska. This five-year NIDA-funded study sampled out-of-treatment injection drug users (IDUs) and crack cocaine smokers in Anchorage, Alaska. This paper is a summary of results comparing risk behavior for HIV and sexually transmitted disease infection among Alaska Natives (n=216) to non-Natives (primarily Blacks n=394 and Whites n=479) from this study. IDUs and crack cocaine smokers were recruited using a targeted sampling plan. All subjects tested positive to cocaine metabolites, or morphine, using urinalysis, or had visible track marks. Several analyses of this database have indicated that Alaska Native women are at high risk for gonorrhea infection. They are also at risk for HIV infection due to high rates of behavior related to blood-borne disease transmission. We have also found that White men who have sex with both White and Alaska Native women are significantly less likely to use condoms with the Alaska Native women. HIV preventive education efforts aimed at Alaska Native women need to be implemented on a major scale.