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Reduce HIV Transmission – Shooting up, clean needles, and addiction treatment
November 9th, 2009
Co-authored by: Jamie Felzer
We’ve talked often on this site about many of the negative things that often come along with heavy drug use. We’ve not yet talked about any of the factors that make injection drug use even worse. Users inject cocaine, crystal meth, and heroin, or any combination of these.
Shooting up and disease
In addition to all of the other, addiction-relevant, factors we’ve talked about on here, injection drug use brings about the worry of blood borne pathogens, especially HIV and Hepatitis C. While it may not always be easy to find clean needles or worry about cleaning a needle between uses there are steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of transmission.
1. Get Tested!! HIV/AIDS testing is available all over the world, often for free. Having another STD or illness can easily kill someone with AIDS. Know your status!
President Obama just finalized a plan to revoke the 22 year travel ban on those living with HIV/AIDS. This will significantly reduce the stigma of HIV/AIDS and should bring about more testing centers and education. See this video to hear Obama.
2. While it may not always be easy, take great care to try to check the needle for visible signs of blood before injecting. If you think the needle may have been used before, clean it with bleach or another disinfectant.
3. Utilize the free clinics around your town that give out free, clean needles. They are there to help you!! Use these addiction support centers for clean needles and other equipment (like the bleach I mentioned earlier).
4. Talk about it! Regardless of where you may live, the group of people you hang out, studies have shown that talking about this subject matter increases awareness and can decrease chance of infections. Being informed is your most important tool. For more info check out AIDS Global Information or AIDS Action.
5. Get help! Treatment options are widely available and they serve as a very effective method for reducing risky behaviors. We can offer you placement help if you’re in southern California, but even if not SAMHSA has a relatively good addiction treatment locator – Check it out.
Citation:
CAPS Fact Sheet: What are IDU HIV Prevention Needs?
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| Posted in: Cocaine, Drugs, Education, For addicts, Meth, Opiates, Tips, Treatment Tags: addiction, AIDS, bleach, clinics, cocaine, crystal meth, hepatitis, heroin, HIV, idu, injection, needles, obama, rehabs, treatment |
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One Response to “Reduce HIV Transmission – Shooting up, clean needles, and addiction treatment”Leave a Reply | |
HIV is a disease that is still incurable today. We should always practice safe sex and also educate our people how to avoid the spread of this disease.