Harm reduction programmes: Saving lives among people who inject drugs

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Harm reduction programmes: Saving lives among people who inject drugs

27 June 2017
UNAIDS

People who inject drugs are among the key populations most at risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV. Yet they are also among those with the least access to HIV prevention, care and treatment services, because their drug use is often stigmatized and criminalized.

Estimates show that worldwide there are approximately 12 million people who inject drugs, 1.6 million (14%) of whom are living with HIV and 6 million (50%) of whom are living with hepatitis C. HIV prevalence among women who inject drugs is often greater than among their male peers. UNAIDS estimates that 140 000 people who inject drugs were newly infected with HIV globally in 2014 and there was no decline in the annual number of new HIV infections among people who inject drugs between 2010 and 2014.

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