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Guise A, Albers ER, Strathdee SA. 'PrEP is not ready for our community, and our community is not ready for PrEP': pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV for people who inject drugs and limits to the HIV prevention response. Addiction 2017; 112:572-578. [PMID: 27273843 PMCID: PMC5145792 DOI: 10.1111/add.13437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2015] [Revised: 02/16/2016] [Accepted: 04/19/2016] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV, or 'PrEP', is the use of antiretroviral medicines by people who are HIV-negative to protect themselves against acquiring HIV. PrEP has shown efficacy for preventing HIV acquisition. Despite the potential, many concerns have been voiced by people who inject drugs (PWID) and their organizations. There is a need to engage with these views and ensure their integration in to policy and strategy. This paper presents PWID views on PrEP to foster the uptake of these opinions into scientific and policy debate around PrEP METHODS: Critical analysis of a report of a community consultation led by the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD). RESULTS The INPUD report highlights enthusiasm from PWID for PrEP, but also three main concerns: the feasibility and ethics of PrEP, its potential use as a substitute for other harm reduction strategies and how a focus on PrEP heralds a re-medicalization of HIV. Each concern relates to evidenced gaps in essential services or opposition to harm reduction and PWID human rights. CONCLUSIONS People who use drugs have fundamental concerns about the potential impacts of pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV which reflect a 'fault line' in HIV prevention: a predominance of biomedical approaches over community perspectives. Greater community engagement in HIV prevention strategy is needed, or we risk continuing to ignore the need for action on the underlying structural drivers and social context of the HIV epidemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy Guise
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive , La Jolla , 92093-0507, USA
| | - Eliot Ross Albers
- International Network of People who Use Drugs, Unit 2C05, South Bank Technopark, 90 London Road, London, SE1 6LN, United Kingdom
| | - Steffanie A. Strathdee
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive , La Jolla , 92093-0507, USA
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Guise A, Rhodes T, Ndimbii J, Ayon S, Nnaji O. Access to HIV treatment and care for people who inject drugs in Kenya: a short report. AIDS Care 2016; 28:1595-1599. [PMID: 27267309 DOI: 10.1080/09540121.2016.1191606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
People who inject drugs (PWID) experience a range of barriers to HIV treatment and care access. The Kenyan government and community-based organisations have sought to develop HIV care for PWID. A principal approach to delivery in Kenya is to provide care from clinics serving the general population and for this to be linked to support from community-based organisations providing harm reduction outreach. This study explores accounts of PWID accessing care in Kenya to identify care barriers and facilitators. PWID accounts were collected within a qualitative longitudinal study. In-depth interviews with PWID living with HIV (n = 44) are combined with interviews with other PWID, care providers and community observation. Results show that some PWID are able to access care successfully, whilst other PWID report challenges. The results focus on three principal themes to give insights into these experiences: the hardship of addiction and the costs of care, the silencing of HIV in the community and then discrimination and support in the clinic. Some PWID are able to overcome, often with social and outreach support, barriers to clinic access; for others, the challenges of addiction, hardship, stigma and discrimination are too constraining. We discuss how clinics serving the general population could be further adapted to increase access. Clinic-based care, even with community links, may, however, be fundamentally challenging for some PWID to access. Additional strategies to develop stand-alone care for PWID and also decentralise HIV treatment and care to community settings and involve peers in delivery should be considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy Guise
- a Dept of Global Public Health , University of California San Diego , San Diego , CA , USA.,b Centre for Research on Drugs and Health Behaviour, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine , London , UK
| | - Tim Rhodes
- b Centre for Research on Drugs and Health Behaviour, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine , London , UK
| | - James Ndimbii
- c Community Action on Harm Reduction Project, Kenya AIDS NGOs Consortium , Nairobi , Kenya
| | - Sylvia Ayon
- c Community Action on Harm Reduction Project, Kenya AIDS NGOs Consortium , Nairobi , Kenya
| | - Obiora Nnaji
- d Mount Sinai Hospital Services, Elmhurst Hospital Centre , Elmhurst , NY , USA
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Abdool R. Policy change towards implementing harm reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG POLICY 2016; 30:140-2. [PMID: 27017377 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2016.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Reychad Abdool
- Consultant HIV Expert, Formerly United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Nairobi, Kenya.
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Rhodes T, Abdool R. Drug harms and drug policies in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implementation science and HIV epidemics. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG POLICY 2016; 30:1-6. [PMID: 26997543 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2016.02.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tim Rhodes
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK; National Centre for Social Research on Health, University of New South Wales, Australia.
| | - Reychad Abdool
- Senior HIV Consultant, formerly United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Nairobi, Kenya
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Syvertsen JL, Ohaga S, Agot K, Dimova M, Guise A, Rhodes T, Wagner KD. An ethnographic exploration of drug markets in Kisumu, Kenya. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG POLICY 2016; 30:82-90. [PMID: 26838470 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2016.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2015] [Revised: 12/15/2015] [Accepted: 01/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Illegal drug markets are shaped by multiple forces, including local actors and broader economic, political, social, and criminal justice systems that intertwine to impact health and social wellbeing. Ethnographic analyses that interrogate multiple dimensions of drug markets may offer both applied and theoretical insights into drug use, particularly in developing nations where new markets and local patterns of use traditionally have not been well understood. This paper explores the emergent drug market in Kisumu, western Kenya, where our research team recently documented evidence of injection drug use. METHODS Our exploratory study of injection drug use was conducted in Kisumu from 2013 to 2014. We draw on 151 surveys, 29 in-depth interviews, and 8 months of ethnographic fieldwork to describe the drug market from the perspective of injectors, focusing on their perceptions of the market and reports of drug use therein. RESULTS Injectors described a dynamic market in which the availability of drugs and proliferation of injection drug use have taken on growing importance in Kisumu. In addition to reports of white and brown forms of heroin and concerns about drug adulteration in the market, we unexpectedly documented widespread perceptions of cocaine availability and injection in Kisumu. Examining price data and socio-pharmacological experiences of cocaine injection left us with unconfirmed evidence of its existence, but opened further possibilities about how the chaos of new drug markets and diffusion of injection-related beliefs and practices may lend insight into the sociopolitical context of western Kenya. CONCLUSIONS We suggest a need for expanded drug surveillance, education and programming responsive to local conditions, and further ethnographic inquiry into the social meanings of emergent drug markets in Kenya and across sub-Saharan Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L Syvertsen
- Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, 4046 Smith Laboratory, 174 W. 18th Ave., Columbus, OH 43210-1106, USA.
| | - Spala Ohaga
- Impact Research and Development Organization, P.O. Box 9171-40141, Kisumu, Kenya
| | - Kawango Agot
- Impact Research and Development Organization, P.O. Box 9171-40141, Kisumu, Kenya
| | - Margarita Dimova
- Department of Politics and International Studies, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, England WC1H 0XG, United Kingdom
| | - Andy Guise
- Division of Global Public Health, University of California, San Diego, Central Research Services Facility (CRSF), La Jolla, CA 92093-0507, USA; London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, England WC1E 7HT, United Kingdom
| | - Tim Rhodes
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, England WC1E 7HT, United Kingdom
| | - Karla D Wagner
- School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N. Virginia St. MS 0274, Reno, NV 89557, USA
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Mital S, Miles G, McLellan-Lemal E, Muthui M, Needle R. Heroin shortage in Coastal Kenya: A rapid assessment and qualitative analysis of heroin users' experiences. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG POLICY 2015; 30:91-8. [PMID: 26470646 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2015.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2015] [Revised: 08/11/2015] [Accepted: 08/13/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION While relatively rare events, abrupt disruptions in heroin availability have a significant impact on morbidity and mortality risk among those who are heroin dependent. A heroin shortage occurred in Coast Province, Kenya from December 2010 to March 2011. This qualitative analysis describes the shortage events and consequences from the perspective of heroin users, along with implications for health and other public sectors. METHODS As part of a rapid assessment, 66 key informant interviews and 15 focus groups among heroin users in Coast Province, Kenya were conducted. A qualitative thematic analysis was undertaken in Atlas.ti. to identify salient themes related to the shortage. RESULTS Overall, participant accounts were rooted in a theme of desperation and uncertainty, with emphasis on six sub-themes: (1) withdrawal and strategies for alleviating withdrawal, including use of medical intervention and other detoxification attempts; (2) challenges of dealing with unpredictable drug availability, cost, and purity; (3) changes in drug use patterns, and actions taken to procure heroin and other drugs; (4) modifications in drug user relationship dynamics and networks, including introduction of risky group-level injection practices; (5) family and community response; and (6) new challenges with the heroin market resurgence. CONCLUSIONS The heroin shortage led to a series of consequences for drug users, including increased risk of morbidity, mortality and disenfranchisement at social and structural levels. Availability of evidence-based services for drug users and emergency preparedness plans could have mitigated this impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sasha Mital
- Division of Global HIV/AIDS, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, MS E-04, Atlanta, GA 30329, United States.
| | - Gillian Miles
- Division of Global HIV/AIDS, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, MS E-04, Atlanta, GA 30329, United States
| | - Eleanor McLellan-Lemal
- Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, MS E-45, Atlanta, GA 30329, United States
| | - Mercy Muthui
- KEMRI Complex, Mbagathi Road off Mbagathi Way, PO Box 606-00621, Village Market, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Richard Needle
- Division of Global HIV/AIDS, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, MS E-04, Atlanta, GA 30329, United States; Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, SA-29, 2nd floor, 2201 C. Street NW, Washington, DC 20522-2920, United States
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