The high prevalence of infection with HIV and other blood-borne pathogens in injection drug users (IDUs) is directly related to the lack of syringe access. Needle exchange programs (NEPs), syringe prescription, and syringe deregulation are 3 approaches to increasing access to sterile syringes for IDUs. The benefits of NEPs have been repeatedly demonstrated, but the impact of NEPs has been limited by a lack of federal funding. Syringe prescription for IDUs is a promising new strategy supported by many organizations; legalizing syringe purchase and possession has led to a substantial improvement in syringe access in many states. Because each approach has unique advantages, providing IDUs with a variety of options for syringe access is likely to be most beneficial.
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AIDS Behav
January 2025
Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
Although people who inject drugs (PWID) are at high risk of acquiring HIV, knowledge and uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention among this population remain low due to numerous psychosocial and structural barriers. Multiple implementation strategies have been proposed to address this gap, notably providing long-acting injectable (LAI) formulations of PrEP and offering PrEP at syringe services programs (SSPs). This qualitative study explores the acceptability and feasibility of offering LAI-PrEP for PWID at risk for HIV at Florida's first legal SSP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Division of Community Health Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic amplified the risk environment for people who inject drugs (PWID), making continued access to harm reduction services imperative. Research has shown that some harm reduction service providers were able to continue to provide services throughout the pandemic. Most of these studies, however, focused on staff perspectives, not those of PWID.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHarm Reduct J
January 2025
Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran.
Background: The global emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019 posed unprecedented challenges to healthcare systems, disrupting routine services and necessitating swift adaptations. Harm reduction programs, vital for addressing substance use-related health risks, faced unique challenges during the pandemic, impacting vulnerable populations. This study focuses on the repercussions of Covid-19 on harm reduction policies in Iran, specifically examining the distribution of condoms, syringes, and methadone to high-risk individuals attending Triangle Centers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimal Model Exp Med
January 2025
National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Background: Inhalation exposure is the gold standard when assessing pulmonary toxicity. However, it typically requires substantial amounts of test material. Intratracheal instillation is an alternative administration technique, where the test substance is suspended in a liquid vehicle and deposited into the lung via the trachea.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 55-year-old female attended the Outpatient Urology Department for local anaesthetic flexible cystoscopy and intradetrusor botulinum toxin A injection. Having been diagnosed with urodynamics-proven low-grade detrusor overactivity in 2017, she was well-established on six-monthly Botox® injections. As part of her ongoing treatment, 100 units of Allergan Botox diluted with saline in a 10 mL syringe were injected via 20 punctures.
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