Improving implementation of needle and syringe programmes to expand, scale up, and sustain evidence-based prevention interventions for HIV and hepatitis C in prisons.

The 1990 resolution by the UN General Assembly committed member states to provide health-care equity for people in prison, who are included in the global goals to control HIV and eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV) by 2030. WHO has set ambitious HCV elimination targets by including people who inject drugs (PWID), yet has not prioritised PWID who are incarcerated, a substantial population who have or are at risk for HCV infection. Human rights principles of health-care equity stipulate that "prisoners should enjoy the same standards of health care that are available in the community, without discrimination on the grounds of their legal status".

Prevalence of drug use before and during imprisonment in seven European countries (2014-2018).

Substance use is a global phenomenon that is particularly affecting the prison population. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of drug use among people in prison before and during incarceration in seven European countries and to compare it with the prevalence in the general population. Individual data collection was carried out between 2014 and 2018 with a model European Questionnaire on Drug Use among people in prison.

Univariable associations between a history of incarceration and HIV and HCV prevalence among people who inject drugs across 17 countries in Europe 2006 to 2020 - is the precautionary principle applicable?

BackgroundPeople who inject drugs (PWID) are frequently incarcerated, which is associated with multiple negative health outcomes.AimWe aimed to estimate the associations between a history of incarceration and prevalence of HIV and HCV infection among PWID in Europe.MethodsAggregate data from PWID recruited in drug services (excluding prison services) or elsewhere in the community were reported by 17 of 30 countries (16 per virus) collaborating in a European drug monitoring system (2006-2020; n = 52,368 HIV+/-; n = 47,268 HCV+/-).

The state of harm reduction in prisons in 30 European countries with a focus on people who inject drugs and infectious diseases.

Background: People who inject drugs are often imprisoned, which is associated with increased levels of health risks including overdose and infectious diseases transmission, affecting not only people in prison but also the communities to which they return. This paper aims to give an up-to-date overview on availability, coverage and policy framework of prison-based harm reduction interventions in Europe.

Methods: Available data on selected harm reduction responses in prisons were compiled from international standardised data sources and combined with a questionnaire survey among 30 National Focal Points of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction to determine the level of availability, estimated coverage and policy framework of the interventions.

Hepatitis B virus infection in EU/EEA and United Kingdom prisons: a descriptive analysis.

People in prison are disproportionately affected by viral hepatitis. To examine the current epidemiology of and responses targeting hepatitis B virus (HBV) in prisons across the European Union, European Economic Area and United Kingdom, we analysed HBV-specific data from the World Health Organization's Health in Prisons European Database and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's hepatitis B prevalence database. Hepatitis B surface antigen seroprevalence ranged from 0% in a maximum-security prison in United Kingdom to 25.

Hepatitis C virus infection in EU/EEA and United Kingdom prisons: opportunities and challenges for action.

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission in the European Union, European Economic Area and United Kingdom is driven by injecting drug use (IDU), which contributes to the high burden of chronic infection among people in prisons. This study aimed to describe the context, epidemiology and response targeting HCV in prisons across the region.

Methods: We retrieved and collated HCV-related data from the World Health Organization's Health in Prisons European Database and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's hepatitis C prevalence database.

The Experience of the Treatment Demand Indicator in Europe: A Common Monitoring Tool Across 30 Countries.

Objective: The article describes an epidemiological indicator called Treatment Demand Indicator (TDI). The TDI aims to provide professionals and researchers with a common European methodology for collecting and reporting core data on drug users in contact with treatment services. The article discusses the implementation of the TDI in the European countries and describes the main results, limitations, and future perspectives.

Cannabis Use among People Entering Drug Treatment in Europe: A Growing Phenomenon?

This paper explores European and national trends in specialised drug treatment entry for cannabis-related problems. The analysis is based on data for the years 2003-2014 from 22 European countries. Between 2003 and 2014, the overall number and proportion of primary cannabis-related first-time entrants increased significantly.

Dual diagnosis: an European perspective.

Editorial of vol 29-1.

New psychoactive substances: Current health-related practices and challenges in responding to use and harms in Europe.

Background: The availability of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in Europe has rapidly increased over the last decade. Although prevalence levels of NPS use remain low in the general European population, there are serious concerns associated with more problematic forms of use and harms in particular populations and settings. It has thus become a priority to formulate and implement effective public health responses.

Trends of heroin use and heroin injection epidemics in Europe: findings from the EMCDDA treatment demand indicator (TDI).

We estimate trends and geographical differences in the heroin epidemic in the European Union plus Croatia and Turkey by analyzing aggregated data on first heroin treatment admissions (cases) during 2000-2009. In 2005-2009 the proportion of drug injectors was higher in Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) than in Western European countries (WECs), whereas the opposite occurred with mean age at first heroin use and first treatment. During this period, the number of cases, cases per center, and proportion of injectors in WECs declined, whereas mean age at first treatment and first heroin use increased.

Unemployment and drug treatment.

Background: Since 2007 the economic recession has hit most industrial countries and this raises the question of how economic hardship affects illicit drug users' decisions to enter drug treatment.

Methods: We test the hypothesis that an improvement in the employment prospects, as measured by a decline in unemployment, strengthens the intrinsic motivation of an unemployed drug user to enter treatment. Our hypothesis is that the "payoff" of entering treatment increases when the unemployed drug user has a greater probability of finding a job.

Buprenorphine in maintenance treatment: experience among Italian physicians in drug addiction centers.

The aim of this study was to assess the attitudes of Italian physicians regarding buprenorphine and its clinical use approximately 6 years after the medication was introduced into clinical practice. The sample consisted of 305 randomly selected physicians, working in public centers of drug addiction. In Italy buprenorphine seems a valid tool in the field of drug addiction treatment, although it is far from replacing methadone even though it seems to guarantee better compliance.

Patients in long-term maintenance therapy for drug use in Italy: analysis of some parameters of social integration and serological status for infectious diseases in a cohort of 1091 patients.

Background: Heroin addiction often severely disrupts normal social functioning. The aims of this multi-centre study of heroin users in long-term replacement treatment were: i) to provide information on aspects of social condition such as employment, educational background, living status, partner status and any history of drug addiction for partners, comparing these data with that of the general population; ii) to assess the prevalence of hepatitis, syphilis and HIV, because serological status could be a reflection of the social conditions of patients undergoing replacement treatment for drug addiction; iii) to analyse possible relationships between social conditions and serological status.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in sixteen National Health Service Drug Addiction Units in northern Italy.