'Forced treatment interruptions' and risk of HIV resistance in countries adopting law enforcement against marginalized populations

Drug treatment and the conditionality of HIV treatment access: a qualitative study in a Russian city

AIMS

We explored social factors affecting access to antiretroviral HIV treatment (ART) among people who inject drugs (PWID) in a Russian city with a large HIV burden.

DESIGN

Qualitative interview study.

SETTING

Community settings in Ekaterinburg, Russian Federation.

PARTICIPANTS

42 PWID living with HIV and 11 health practitioners.

MEASUREMENTS

Thematic analyses of in-depth qualitative interviews.

FINDINGS

Access to ART was felt by participants to be contingent upon their capacity to demonstrate a commitment to becoming 'drug free'. We identify, across interview accounts, a treatment access narrative of 'treat drugs before HIV'. This narrative is upheld by ART providers' concerns to maximize clinical outcome in the face of adherence doubts, as well as by would-be patients' perceptions of expectations placed upon them by the treatment system and their own doubts regarding treatment engagement. This has the effect of reproducing a habit of ART delay and disengaging people from the treatment system. Difficulties accessing ART, and the perceived rationing of treatment on account of untreated drug use, were experienced as 'moral discipline' for falling short of treatment 'deservedness'. Participants describe a 'Catch 22' system, where they are invited to treat their drug use in a setting where effective drug treatment was perceived as unavailable.

CONCLUSIONS

Inadequate drug treatment practices act as structural obstacles to realizing HIV treatment. Evidence internationally suggests that effective drug treatment, including opioid substitution therapy, improves access and adherence to antiretroviral treatment among people who inject drugs. Policy shifts are urgently needed in this setting to enable systemic improvements to drug treatment, especially given large HIV treatment demand.

The impact of methadone or buprenorphine treatment and ongoing injection on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) adherence: evidence from the MANIF2000 cohort study

AIMS

To date, no data exist assessing the impact of either methadone or buprenorphine on adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the long term. This study was conducted in order to evaluate whether receiving take-home methadone and buprenorphine may ensure better adherence to HAART in individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through injection drug use (IDU).

DESIGN

Longitudinal data on adherence, opioid substitution treatment (OST) and patient behaviours starting from their first HAART prescription were collected for 276 individuals HIV-infected through drug use (n=1558 visits).

SETTING

Out-patient hospital services delivering HIV care in Marseilles, Avignon, Nice and Ile de France.

MEASUREMENTS

At any given visit, patients were classified both according to the type of OST received and ongoing injection. Patients who reported no injection and no OST over the whole study period were considered as 'abstinent' and used as a reference category. A logit model based on generalized estimation equations (GEE) was used to identify predictors of non-adherence.

FINDINGS

After adjustment for alcohol consumption, depression and self-reported side effects, patients ceasing injection during OST and abstinent patients exhibited comparable adherence. Patients reporting injection, on OST or not, had a twofold and threefold risk, respectively, of non-adherence compared with abstinent patients (P<0.01 linear trend). Duration on OST without injecting was associated significantly with virological success.

CONCLUSIONS

Both access to and effectiveness of OST contribute to sustaining adherence to HAART in HIV-infected IDUs. These results advocate strongly the need of wider use of OST in countries scaling-up HAART where HIV is driven by IDUs.

Harm reduction and equity of access to care for French prisoners: a review

Background

Despite France being regarded as a model of efficient harm reduction policy and equity of access to care in the general community, the health of French inmates is a critical issue, as harm reduction measures are either inaccessible or only partially implemented in French prisons.

Method

Using specific inclusion and exclusion criteria, information was collected and analyzed about HIV, HBV and HCV prevalence, risk practices, mortality, access to harm reduction measures and care for French prison inmates.

Results

Data about the occurrence of bloodborne diseases, drug use and access to care in prisons remain limited and need urgent updating. Needle exchange programs are not yet available in French prisons and harm reduction interventions and access to OST remain limited or are heterogeneous across prisons. The continuity of care at prison entry and after release remains problematic and should be among the primary public health priorities for French prisoners.

Conclusion

Preventive and harm reduction measures should be urgently introduced at least as pilot programs. The implementation of such measures, not yet available in French prisons, is not only a human right for prison inmates but can also provide important public health benefits for the general population.

Paradoxes in antiretroviral treatment for injecting drug users: access, adherence and structural barriers in Asia and the former Soviet Union

Offered proper support, injection drug users (IDUs) can achieve the same levels of adherence to and clinical benefit from antiretroviral treatment (ARV) as other patients with HIV. Nonetheless, in countries of Asia and the former Soviet Union where IDUs represent the largest share of HIV cases, IDUs have been disproportionately less likely to receive ARV. While analysis of adherence amongst IDUs has focused on individual patient ability to adhere to medical regimens, HIV treatment systems themselves are in need of examination. Structural impediments to provision of ARV for IDUs include competing, vertical systems of care; compulsory drug treatment and rehabilitation services that often offer neither ARV nor effective treatment for chemical dependence; lack of opiate substitution treatments demonstrated to increase adherence to ARV; and policies that explicitly or implicitly discourage ARV delivery to active IDUs. Labeling active drug users as socially untrustworthy or unproductive, health systems can create a series of paradoxes that ensure confirmation of these stereotypes. Needed reforms include professional education and public campaigns that emphasize IDU capacity for health protection and responsible choice; recognition that the chronic nature of injecting drug use and its links to HIV infection require development of ARV treatment delivery that includes active drug users; and integrated treatment that strengthens links between health providers and builds on, rather than seeks to bypass, IDU social networks and organizations.