The transmission of HIV through sharing equipment for injecting drugs has remained at relatively low levels in the UK, at around 5 per cent of all diagnoses ever reported.
This is due primarily to needle exchange programmes and other harm reduction programmes, such as methadone maintenance (which is taken orally). In contrast, nearly half of HIV infections in Eastern Europe in recent years involved intravenous drug use.
In 2011, 132 people contracted HIV in this way, accounting for just 2 per cent of the total cases of HIV that were diagnosed and this rate has remained fairly level since the 1990s. Intravenous drug users (IDUs) who share injecting equipment are also at higher risk of infections such as Hepatitis B and C. Almost half of IDUs may be infected with the more easily transmitted Hepatitis C from anonymous surveys.
Statistics
In 2011, around 1,636 IDUs were living with diagnosed HIV. Including undiagnosed infection this could be around 2,000 people. Among this group:
- There have been 5,639 known HIV cases amongst IDUs from the beginning of the epidemic through to the end of 2011, which is just under 5 per cent of all cases ever diagnosed in the UK.
- Only 2.2 per cent of people accessing care for HIV were IDUs in 2012. This comparatively low rate compared to total ever diagnosed may be due to non-attendance of clinics and a relatively high death rate amongst IDUs.
- In the UK, HIV diagnoses amongst IDUs have remained at a fairly low rate since the beginning of the epidemic compared to many other countries.