PMID- 26472467
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20160610
LR  - 20181113
IS  - 1477-7517 (Electronic)
IS  - 1477-7517 (Linking)
VI  - 12
DP  - 2015 Oct 16
TI  - Social context, diversity and risk among women who inject drugs in Vietnam: 
      descriptive findings from a cross-sectional survey.
PG  - 35
LID - 10.1186/s12954-015-0067-9 [doi]
LID - 35
AB  - BACKGROUND: Women who inject drugs (WWID) are neglected globally in research and 
      programming yet may be likelier than males to practise sexual and injecting risks 
      and be infected with HIV and more stigmatised but seek fewer services. Little is 
      known about characteristics, practices and nexus between drugs and sex work of 
      WWID in Vietnam, where unsafe injecting has driven HIV transmission, and 
      commercial sex and inconsistent condom use are prevalent. This was the first 
      quantitative investigation of Vietnamese WWID recruited as injecting drug users. 
      This article summarises descriptive findings. FINDINGS: A cross-sectional survey 
      was conducted among WWID in Hanoi (n = 203) and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) (n = 200) 
      recruited using respondent-driven sampling. Characteristics varied within and 
      between sites. Twenty-two percent in Hanoi and 47.5 % in HCMC had never sold sex. 
      Almost all commenced with smoking heroin, some as children. Most injected 
      frequently, usually alone, although 8 % (Hanoi) and 18 % (HCMC) shared equipment 
      in the previous month. Some had sex--and sold it--as children; most had multiple 
      partners. Condom use was high with clients but very low with intimate partners, 
      often injecting drug users. HIV knowledge was uneven, and large minorities were 
      not tested recently (or ever) for HIV. Nearly all perceived intense 
      gender-related stigma, especially for drug use. CONCLUSION: This ground-breaking 
      study challenges assumptions about characteristics and risks based on anecdotal 
      evidence and studies among men. Most WWID were vulnerable to sexual HIV 
      transmission from intimate partners. Interventions should incorporate broader 
      sociocultural context to protect this highly stigmatised population.
FAU - Khuat, Oanh T H
AU  - Khuat OT
AD  - Center for Supporting Community Development Initiatives (SCDI), Hanoi, Vietnam. 
      oanhkhuat@scdi.org.vn.
FAU - Morrow, Martha
AU  - Morrow M
AD  - Centre for Mental Health, University of Melbourne, 3010, Victoria, Australia. 
      martham@unimelb.edu.au.
FAU - Nguyen, Trang N N
AU  - Nguyen TN
AD  - Center for Promotion of Quality of Life (Life Center), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. 
      trang@life-vietnam.org.
FAU - Armstrong, Gregory
AU  - Armstrong G
AD  - Centre for Mental Health, University of Melbourne, 3010, Victoria, Australia. 
      g.armstrong@unimelb.edu.au.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20151016
PL  - England
TA  - Harm Reduct J
JT  - Harm reduction journal
JID - 101153624
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Cross-Sectional Studies
MH  - Female
MH  - HIV Infections/epidemiology
MH  - Heroin Dependence/*epidemiology
MH  - Humans
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Risk Factors
MH  - *Risk-Taking
MH  - Sex Work/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - *Social Environment
MH  - Substance Abuse, Intravenous/*epidemiology
MH  - Unsafe Sex/statistics & numerical data
MH  - Vietnam/epidemiology
MH  - Young Adult
PMC - PMC4608123
EDAT- 2015/10/17 06:00
MHDA- 2016/06/11 06:00
PMCR- 2015/10/16
CRDT- 2015/10/17 06:00
PHST- 2015/02/17 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2015/09/15 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2015/10/17 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2015/10/17 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2016/06/11 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2015/10/16 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1186/s12954-015-0067-9 [pii]
AID - 67 [pii]
AID - 10.1186/s12954-015-0067-9 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Harm Reduct J. 2015 Oct 16;12:35. doi: 10.1186/s12954-015-0067-9.