Effectiveness of community-based outreach in preventing HIV/AIDS among injecting drug users

International Journal of Drug Policy, Vol. 16, No. Supplement 1. (December 2005), pp. 45-57. This paper focuses on the evidence for the effectiveness of community-based outreach intervention as one component of a comprehensive HIV prevention model for preventing HIV infection in injecting drug user (IDU) populations. Three empirical questions guided the review of the evidence. This article includes primarily published literature on community-based outreach derived mostly from developing countries but also unpublished literature. Wherever possible, evidence from multi-country, multi-site studies or meta-analytical studies is included. More than 40 published studies reveal that injecting drug users (IDUs), who are reached by community-based outreach and provided with access to risk reduction services, report reducing HIV risk behaviours. The strength of the evidence was assessed using Hill’s criteria, which permit a review of multiple studies with differe...