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To examine COVID-19 vaccination and HIV transmission among persons who inject drugs (PWID) during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022) in New York City (NYC).
Past research has either focused on alcohol or drug preloading before a night out, but not on the interaction between them. With increased risks of harm through interaction effects, we wished to build upon pre...
The adulteration of the illicit drug supply with fentanyl and its analogues is driving the ongoing overdose crisis in North America. While various harm reduction interventions address overdose-related risks, t...
Preliminary evidence suggests that people who inject drugs (PWID) may be at an increased risk of developing infective endocarditis (IE), hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, and/or human immunodeficiency virus (...
The injection of morphine from morphine sulfate capsules containing sustained-release microbeads (Skenan®) is a practice frequently described by French intravenous opioid users. They seek an injectable form of...
In the US, stimulant use is associated with a 3–6 times greater rate of HIV seroconversion in sexual minority men (SMM) than in those who do not use stimulants. Annually, 1 in 3 SMM who HIV seroconvert will be...
The original article was published in Harm Reduction Journal 2023 20:30
The masculinizing effects from anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) appear to be different between men and women, leading to calls for more gender-specific information regarding women and AAS use. This study soug...
The original article was published in Harm Reduction Journal 2023 20:3
There are growing concerns about illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF) contamination of methamphetamine. This study aims to characterize the lay views and experiences with IMF-contaminated methamphetamine (IMF...
As the overdose crisis in Canada continues to escalate in severity, novel interventions and programs are required. Safer Supply programs offer pharmaceutical-grade medication to people who use drugs to replace...
The intention of chemsex-practicing gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) to reduce their drug use is an important factor for the utilization of harm reduction services. This study a...
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, overdose rates in North America have continued to rise, with more than 100,000 drug poisoning deaths in the past year. Amidst an increasingly toxic drug supply, the pa...
People who inject drugs (PWID) and prisoners are considered key populations at risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and/or Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). In 2016, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS ...
Harm reduction services that employ or are operated by people who use drugs are an effective means of mitigating overdose risks and other drug-related harms. However, stereotypes portraying people who use crim...
Despite advancements in hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment, low uptake among hard-to-reach populations remains a global issue. The current study aimed to assess the feasibility of a modified same-day test-and-t...
The Correction to this article has been published in Harm Reduction Journal 2023 20:67
People with Opioid Use Disorder (PWOUD) represent an underserved and marginalized population for whom treatment gaps exist. Low-barrier programs like mobile care units and street outreach programs have yielded...
Drug-related deaths in Scotland are the highest in Europe. Half of all deaths in people experiencing homelessness are drug related, yet we know little about the unmet health needs of people experiencing homele...
Evidence on the social determinants of mental health conditions and violence among people who inject or use drugs (PWUD) is limited, particularly in conflict-affected countries. We estimated the prevalence of ...
As societal attitudes toward narcotics have changed, harm reduction strategies have emerged which make it safer to inject intravenous drugs. Diamorphine (heroin) is commonly sold as its free base—better known ...
Illicit substance use has constantly evolved over the years, particularly in the party scene. Monitoring these changes is essential to adapt harm reduction strategies. The OCTOPUS survey was implemented to enh...
A precipitous decline in health status among people recently released from prison is common. In Victoria, Australia, opioid agonist treatment (OAT) in the community involves frequent contact with primary care,...
Opioid-involved overdose continues to rise, largely explained by fentanyl adulteration of the illicit opioid supply. Fentanyl test strips are a novel drug checking tool that can be used by people who use drugs...
Opioids were implicated in approximately 88,000 fatal overdoses (OD) globally. However, in principle all opioid OD are reversible with the timely administration of naloxone hydrochloride. Despite the widesprea...
Drug checking is increasingly being explored outside of festivals and events to be an ongoing service within communities, frequently integrated within responses to illicit drug overdose. The choice of instrume...
Since the emergence of fentanyl in the drug market, syringe services programs (SSPs) have been at the forefront of providing life-saving tools such as naloxone and fentanyl test strips to people who use drugs ...
Distribution of naloxone and training on its proper use are evidence-based strategies for preventing opioid overdose deaths. In-person naloxone training was conducted in major metropolitan areas and urban cent...
Persons who inject drugs (PWID) commonly experience venous degradation as a complication of prolonged injection, which makes routine phlebotomy difficult. Clients may decline care due to the perceived lack of ...
The majority of Norwegians who use e-cigarettes are adults who have smoked. Little is known about vaping reasons and -patterns in this group. The aim of this paper was to study vaping prevalence, patterns, and...
The objective of this study was to examine international literature to identify best practices for treatment of opioid dependence in Indigenous contexts.
Community-based harm reduction vending machines (HRVM) are not new to the field of public health; numerous countries have implemented them in response to the needs of people who use drugs over the last three d...
The COVID-19 pandemic worsened the ongoing overdose crisis in the United States (US) and caused significant mental health strain and burnout among health care workers (HCW). Harm reduction, overdose prevention...
During COVID-19, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) allowed Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) programs to relax in-person MMT requirements to reduce COVID-19 exposure. T...
Alerts about changes in unregulated drug markets may be useful for supporting health and community workers to anticipate, prevent, and respond to unexpected adverse drug events. This study aimed to establish f...
The Correction to this article has been published in Harm Reduction Journal 2023 20:57
Although naloxone is widely acknowledged as a life-saving intervention and a critical tool for first responders, there remains a need to explore how law enforcement officers have adapted to a shifting scope of...
Individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) have disproportionately high rates of unintended pregnancy. Reducing harm associated with this risk and its biopsychosocial consequences requires evidence-based, ...
Globally, 9% of people who inject drugs (PWID), a key hepatitis C-infected population, reside in sub-Saharan Africa. In South Africa, hepatitis C seroprevalence in PWID is high. It is almost 84% in Pretoria an...
Naloxone is a medication that can quickly reverse an opioid overdose. Syringe service programs (SSPs) are community-based prevention programs that provide a range of evidence-based interventions in the USA, in...
Vending machines for harm reduction (VMHR) are an innovative approach to deliver life-saving materials, information, and treatment for hard-to-reach populations, particularly for persons who inject drugs. The ...
Drug overdose mortality is rising precipitously among Black people who use drugs. In NYC, the overdose mortality rate is now highest in Black (38.2 per 100,000) followed by the Latinx (33.6 per 100,000) and wh...
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, cannabis use social practices often involved sharing prepared cannabis (joints/blunts/cigarettes) and cannabis-related paraphernalia. Previous studies have demonstrated that sha...
People experiencing homelessness are disproportionately affected by harms related to alcohol use. Indeed, their alcohol dependence is associated with numerous physical and mental health problems along with str...
In sub-Saharan Africa many people who inject drugs (PWID) are living with undiagnosed or untreated HIV and experience high levels of poverty and conditions that can contribute to worse outcomes from SARS-CoV-2...
Scotland has one of the highest rates of drug-related deaths (DRDs) per capita in Europe, the majority of which involve opioids. Naloxone is a medication used to reverse opioid-related overdoses. In efforts to...
One of the objectives of cannabis legalization in Canada is to transition consumers from the illegal to the legal market. Little is known about how legal sourcing varies across different cannabis product types...
Receptive injection equipment sharing (i.e., injecting with syringes, cookers, rinse water previously used by another person) plays a central role in the transmission of infectious diseases (e.g., HIV, viral h...
Despite the widespread availability of naloxone, US opioid overdose rates continue to rise. The “Cascade of Care” (CoC) is a public health approach that identifies steps in achieving specific outcomes and has ...
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for all people at substantial risk of HIV as part of combination prevention. The extent to which this recommendation has been...
To inform the development of updated World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on simplified service delivery for HCV infection, a global survey was undertaken among people affected or infected by HCV. The ob...
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected structurally vulnerable populations including people who use drugs (PWUD). Increased overdose risk behaviors among PWUD during the pandemic have be...
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