Science Magazine quotes Dr. Sherry Deren,
Director of the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research at NDRI
Injecting drug users (“IDUs”) are driving the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Puerto Rico. A recent article in Science, “Rich Port, Poor Port”, by Jon Cohen, describes the plight of IDUs in Puerto Rico, who have limited access to health care and drug treatment programs.
The article reports on a study conducted by Dr. Sherry Deren in New York City and Drs. Rafaela Robles and Hector Colon of the Universidad Central del Caribe in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The research compared Puerto Rican IDUs recruited in East Harlem, New York with those recruited in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Users living in Puerto Rico injected more than twice as frequently and were almost three times more likely to share needles, yet there are significantly fewer risk reduction services (such as needle exchanges and methadone clinics) in Puerto Rico. Although the HIV prevalence among IDUs was about the same in New York City and Puerto Rico at the project’s initiation, the new infection rate among IDUs in Puerto Rico was about four times higher and the mortality rate was more than three times higher.
Detailed findings from the study were reported in “Disparities in HIV Prevention Services, Infection Rates and Mortality: A Comparison of Drug Users in Puerto Rico and New York”, by Milton Mino and Sherry Deren. The report is also available in Spanish.
This research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, grant no. R01 DA010425.
October, 2006