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An international team of
researchers, in a paper published in the online edition of the British Medical
Journal, reported that methadone treatment reduces the risk of HIV transmission
in people who inject drugs (PWID). Dr. Julie Bruneau from the CHUM Research
Centre and the Department of Family Medicine at the Université de Montréal—one
of six investigators working with the principal investigator, University of
Bristol’s Dr. Matthew Hickman—notes that the study provides evidence of a link
between opiate substitution therapies (OST), including methadone, and a reduced
risk of HIV transmission.
The study results are significant,
as approximately 5–10 percent of HIV infections worldwide are due to injection
drug use—a major risk factor for the transmission of HIV and AIDs—and increases
in HIV incidence have been reported among PWID in many countries where OST are
illegal or severely restricted.
Researchers from the United States,
Canada, Italy, and Australia collaboratively reviewed and analyzed several
published and unpublished studies from multiple countries to determine the
relationship between OST and HIV transmission among PWID. The team selected
nine studies that looked mainly at males between 26 and 39 years of age, with a
total of 819 cases of HIV infection accumulating 23,608 person-years of
follow-up.
Through their analysis, the researchers
determined that the impact of OST on HIV reduction was strong—OST was
associated with a 54 percent reduction in risk of HIV infection among PWID.
Because of differences in the studies, including different background rates of
HIV infection, the researchers were unable to calculate an “absolute risk
reduction” for HIV infection that was applicable to all settings.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
