Delivering HIV Care and Treatment for People Who Use Drugs

Published by the Open Society International Harm Reduction Development Program, Delivering HIV Care and Treatment for People Who Use Drugs: Lessons from Research and Practice seeks to address a basic question: Based on available evidence from research and clinical practice, how can medical personnel, public health officials, policymakers, and advocates most effectively provide HIV treatment and related health care for people with a history of drug use? As the international community sets its sights on a goal of universal access to HIV treatment and care, this book is intended to advance the cause of treatment for those who are among the most underserved people living with HIV.

Delivering HIV Care and Treatment for People Who Use Drugs follows up and expands on Breaking Down Barriers: Lessons on Providing HIV Treatment to Injection Drug Users, a report published by the Open Society Foundations in 2004. That publication presented a series of case studies documenting successful practice and the evolution of public policies around treatment access for people who use drugs in a number of cities and countries.

This volume seeks to present information on treatments for HIV and a range of comorbid conditions, such as tuberculosis and hepatitis C, for people who use drugs. Most of the chapters are scientific in nature, and their content has been peer reviewed. Several short chapters examining case examples or the policy dimensions of particular issues are also included. The book is divided into three sections covering some of the major issues faced in organizing HIV treatment with and for people who use drugs. Following these chapters, a section on ethics and clinical research looks to the intersections of HIV prevention and treatment, and the future of research involving people who use drugs.