HIV among injecting drug users in Europe: increasing trends in the East.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic among injecting drug users (IDUs) shows different developments in different parts of the European region. In the countries of the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the rates of reported newly diagnosed cases of HIV infection in IDUs are mostly at stable and low levels or in decline. In contrast, those rates increased in 2007 in many of the other (eastern) countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region, suggesting that the HIV epidemic among IDUs in Europe is still growing. In countries or regions where indicators of HIV incidence show upward trends, existing prevention measures may be insufficient and in need of strengthening. In the EU/EFTA region the larger availability of harm reduction measures such as opioid substitution treatment and needle and syringe programmes may have played a key role in containing the epidemic among IDUs.

Three-year follow-up study of heroin users in Bratislava.

The principal goal of the present study was to find out the prospects of patients who enter a treatment facility due to their opioid dependence in the specific socioeconomic conditions of a transforming Central European country. The prospective follow-up study of a cohort of 351 patients, 76% males and 24% females, with an average age of 21.5 years (SD 4.8 years) was evaluated 1 and 3 years after the patients were taken into treatment. The treatment intake was performed in a specialized comprehensive treatment facility in Bratislava, Slovak Republic. One and 3 years later, 79 and 70% of the patients, respectively, were contacted. The results show that after 3 years, 30% of patients (106) had been fully abstinent from all opioids for at least 6 months, 6% (19) had been abstinent less than 6 months, 10% (35) were on substitution treatment and 25% (86) were regular heroin users at that time. A significantly better outcome after 3 years was observed among those subjects who were at work or at school at the time of admission. Despite different socioeconomic conditions, the results demonstrate that findings concerning the outcome of opiate users undergoing treatment are consistent with those from other parts of the world.

Sports activities in the prevention of heroin dependency.

The aim of this study was to find out more about the role played by sports activities in the prevention of illicit drug abuse. We administered a simple questionnaire to a group of 215 patients with heroin dependency. Their average age was 23 years (SD = 4.3, range 15-42); 163 (76%) of them were males and 52 (24%) females. Another group was formed by 231 student adolescents with a mean age of 15 years (SD = 1.0, range 14-18); 65 (28%) were males and 166 (72%) were females. One hundred and sixty-one (75%) of the heroin users and 169 (69%) of the students took part in regular physical training (at least two times weekly in a sport club) and competitive sports activities until the age of 15. Due to the fact that there was a statistically significant difference in the male/female ratio between the two groups, the comparison of males and females was done separately. There were no statistically significant differences between the males, nor between the females from these two groups in their histories of sports activities until the age of 15. Thirty-one (17%) of the patients started with illicit drug use prior to the termination of their sports activities.