Harm reduction and control of HIV in IDUs in France

Modeling the cost-effectiveness and impact on fatal overdose and initiation of buprenorphine-naloxone treatment at syringe service programs

AIM

To estimate the number of treatment initiations, averted fatal opioid overdoses and the cost-effectiveness associated with offering buprenorphine-naloxone (buprenorphine) treatment on-site within existing syringe service programs (SSPs) in Massachusetts, USA.

DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

This was a cohort-based mathematical model and cost-effectiveness analysis. We derived model inputs from state and national surveillance data, clinical trials and observational cohort studies. We compared an intervention scenario where 30% of SSP clients initiated buprenorphine treatment on-site at least once annually to a status quo scenario where no buprenorphine was available on-site among community treatment providers in Massachusetts, 2020-30. In individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) we assumed that 80% of SSP clients had recently injected drugs and that treatment within SSPs would have similar or improved retention compared with standard-of-care buprenorphine programs, but higher rates of active opioid use while in treatment.

MEASUREMENTS

Number of treatment initiations (i.e. individuals began treatment on a medication for opioid use disorder or entered medically managed withdrawal), averted fatal opioid overdoses, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and life-time discounted costs from a health sector and a limited societal perspective.

FINDINGS

The status quo scenario resulted in 23 051 fatal overdoses and 1 511 613 treatment initiations over a 10-year simulation period. An intervention scenario with on-site SSP buprenorphine treatment averted 4797 (-20.8%) fatal opioid overdoses and resulted in 129 359 (+8.6%) additional treatment initiations compared with the status quo. The intervention scenario was the dominating scenario: providing OUD treatment through Massachusetts SSPs cost less (-$3612 per person) with patients accumulating more QALYs (0.2 per person) compared with the status quo scenario.

CONCLUSIONS

Offering buprenorphine treatment on-site within syringe service programs has the potential to decrease fatal overdoses substantially, improve treatment engagement and save on costs.

Can HIV and Hepatitis C Virus Infection be Eliminated Among Persons Who Inject Drugs?

HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are readily transmitted among persons who inject drugs. The HIV and HCV epidemics have expanded rapidly, becoming global health issues. Combined prevention has been implemented to reduce injection and sexual transmission of HIV and HCV among persons who inject drugs. Reductions in risky injection and sexual behavior have led to dramatic reductions in HIV in many countries. Whether comparable reductions in HCV transmission can be achieved has yet to be determined. Eliminating HIV and HCV among persons who inject drugs will require considerable resources and commitment, particularly in low and middle income countries.

Transitions from injection-drug-use-concentrated to self-sustaining heterosexual HIV epidemics: patterns in the international data

BACKGROUND

Injecting drug use continues to be a primary driver of HIV epidemics in many parts of the world. Many people who inject drugs (PWID) are sexually active, so it is possible that high-seroprevalence HIV epidemics among PWID may initiate self-sustaining heterosexual transmission epidemics.

METHODS

Fourteen countries that had experienced high seroprevalence (<20%) HIV epidemics among PWID and had reliable data for injection drug use (IDU) and heterosexual cases of HIV or AIDS were identified. Graphs of newly reported HIV or AIDS cases among PWID and heterosexuals were constructed to identify temporal relationships between the two types of epidemics. The year in which newly reported cases among heterosexuals surpassed newly reported cases among PWID, aspects of the epidemic curves, and epidemic case histories were analyzed to assess whether it was "plausible" or "highly unlikely" that the HIV epidemic among PWID might have initiated the heterosexual epidemic in each country.

RESULTS

Transitions have occurred in 11 of the 14 countries. Two types of temporal relationships between IDU and heterosexual HIV epidemics were identified, rapid high incidence transitions vs. delayed, low incidence transitions. In six countries it appears "plausible" that the IDU epidemic initiated a heterosexual epidemic, and in five countries it appears "highly unlikely" that the IDU epidemic initiated a heterosexual epidemic. A rapid decline in incidence among PWID after the peak year of new cases and national income were the best predictors of the "highly unlikely" initiation of a heterosexual epidemic.

DISCUSSION

Transitions from IDU concentrated epidemics to heterosexual epidemics are common in countries with high seroprevalence among PWID though there are distinct types of transitions. Interventions to immediately reduce HIV incidence among PWID may reduce the likelihood that an IDU epidemic may initiate a heterosexual epidemic.

Human rights and HIV prevention, treatment, and care for people who inject drugs: key principles and research needs

Efforts to provide HIV prevention, treatment, and care to injecting drug users (IDU) are shaped by tensions between approaches that regard IDU as criminals and those regarding drug-dependent individuals as patients deserving treatment and human rights. Advocates for IDU health and human rights find common cause in urging greater attention to legal frameworks, the effects of police abuses, and the need for protections for particularly vulnerable populations including women and those in state custody. Arbitrary detention of drug users, and conditions of pretrial detention, offer examples of how HIV prevention and treatment are adversely impacted by human rights abuse. National commitments to universal access to prevention and treatment for injecting drug users, and the recognition that users of illicit substances do not forfeit their entitlement to health services or human dignity, offer a clear point of convergence for advocates for health and rights, and suggest directions for reform to increase availability of sterile injection equipment, opiate substitution treatment, and antiretroviral therapy. For IDU, protection of rights has particular urgency if universal access to HIV prevention and treatment is to become an achievable reality.