About 39% of IDUs Living in Spain Are HIV-Positive, IHRA Report Says

As many as 39% of the approximately 84,000 injection drug users living in Spain are HIV-positive, and as many as 73% are living with hepatitis C, according to a recent report by the International Harm Reduction Association, Spain's El País reports.

Gerry Stimson, executive director of IHRA, on Monday during the XIX International Congress of Harm Reduction Associated With the Consumption of Drugs in Barcelona said that the most "realistic approach" to address HIV among IDUs is to "help them protect their health from contagion or from an overdose."

According to El País, Spain has the highest number of HIV-positive IDUs in Western Europe despite a decrease in the number of IDUs in recent years. Needle-exchange programs and methadone clinics also have not helped to fully address the spread of HIV and other diseases among IDUs in the country, El País reports (Ferrado, El País, 5/14).