AIDS and Intravenous Drug Use - Hiv/aids—the Background, Ways Hiv Is Transmitted, The Death Toll Of Aids, Sharing Equipment

Substance abuse and addiction are major underlying causes of preventable morbidity and mortality in the United States. The risks increase when illicit substances are injected, which contributes to multiple health and social problems for IDUs [injection drug users], including transmission of bloodborne infections (e.g., human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] and hepatitis B and C infections) through sharing unsterile drug injection equipment and practicing unsafe sex. In the United States, approximately one third of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome cases and one half of new hepatitis C cases are associated with injection drug use.

—Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 50, no. 19, May 18, 2001