The association Between Substance Abuse and HIV infection among People Visiting HIV Testing and Counseling centers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Date
2002-06
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Addis Abeba Universty
Abstract
The magnitude of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia is ever increasing. It is also believed that the use of
substances is increasing in some major towns including Addis Ababa. However, data regarding
the relation of substance abuse and HIV infection is lacking.
A case-control study was carried out in Addis Ababa from December 2001 to February 2002 to
explore the association between substance abuse and HIV infection and to determine the
prevalence and the factors related to substance abuse among people visiting HIV testing and
counseling centers.
Among all visitors for HIV testing and counseling, 227 cases and 726 controls were identified.
Cases and controls were compared by socio demographic, socio economic, exposure to
substances and risky behaviors that predispose them to HIV infection.
The prevalence of “hard’ drug use was found to be 1.2% with the rate being 3.2% in the cases
and 0.54% in the controls. Alcohol drinking was found to be associated with serum HIV
positivity after controlling for other confounding variables. While young age of 15 to 24 and
being single were found to be associated with serum HIV positivity, having monthly family
income was found to be protective against HIV infection. Being male and having sex with
commercial sex workers were related to both alcohol drinking and khat chewing.
From the study, we concluded high prevalence of alcohol and khat abuse among people visiting
HIV counseling and testing centers. Alcohol was found to be a significant risk factor for HIV
infection among people visiting HIV testing and counseling centers. The need of health
education to bring behavioral changes and further study to identify the prevalence and role of
substance in exposure to HIV infection in the community is recommended.
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The association Between Substance Abuse