SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES - PART 2

Course overview

The purpose of this course is to provide readers with a brief overview of information about HIV, Hepatitis, Tuberculosis, Sexually Transmitted Diseases and their interaction with substance abuse, especially injection drug abuse. Using data collected from a range of national surveys, SAMHSA, NIDA and the World Health Organization (WHO) have produced brief summary reports on injection drug use and infectious disease, screening rates for infectious disease, HIV and drug use, hepatitis and drug use and sexually transmitted diseases. Information from a 2008 review of the literature on TB and drug abuse has been summarized and included. It becomes clear that drug treatment is a significant preventive tool in the fight against the spread of these infectious diseases, but still there are too many people who have latent or undiagnosed infections and/or are not receiving treatment or staying in treatment once they start. It is paramount that drug treatment providers begin to see themselves as part of the public health system in its efforts to effectively reduce the transmission of these infectious diseases and, in doing so, become more committed to screening, testing, treating and retaining infected individuals in treatment for their substance abuse and for their infectious diseases whether provided internally to their programs or externally by other providers. Key words: Infections, infectious diseases, substance abuse, addiction, dependence, drug use, alcoholism, injection drug use, HIV, Hepatitis, HBV, HCV, HAV, TB, tuberculosis, STDs, sexually transmitted diseases, IV drug use, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Genie Skypek