Continued risk behaviour among HIV positive drug injectors in London: implications for intervention

Findings are reported on the risk behaviour of 104 confirmed HIV-1 antibody positive drug injectors in London. Findings indicate that 41.3% of respondents had never received treatment or help for their drug use, and that 52.0% had never received a named test for HIV antibodies. The majority of confirmed HIV positive respondents (70.1%) were unaware of their HIV positive status. Respondents unaware of their HIV positive status were less likely to use condoms with primary sexual partners than respondents aware of their HIV status, and were marginally (though not significantly) more likely to report borrowing and lending used injecting equipment. Overall levels of risk-taking were similar to those reported in UK studies of injecting drug use as a whole. The paper concludes by emphasising the high potential for HIV transmission among the equipment sharing and sexual partners of HIV positive drug injectors and by stressing the importance of low-threshold HIV testing, education and treatment interventions in the community. If significant proportions of HIV positive drug injectors remain unaware of their antibody status, and if they also continue to engage in behaviours of risk to others, the spread of HIV among drug injectors and their partners may escape current efforts of prevention and prevalence control.