Canada's Native Population Hard Hit by Drugs, HIV

according to new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal

"At least in this particular area, the aboriginal people who use injection drugs are experiencing HIV infection rates that we wouldn't normally see even in sub-Saharan Africa," said study co-author Dr. Martin T. Schechter of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. "So we have a developing world situation right here in North America."
In the January 7 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the researchers report that among indigenous men and women an increased risk of becoming infected with HIV was associated with frequent cocaine injections and frequent speedball injections--the latter being a combination of cocaine and heroin.
Native Canadian women who went through periods during which they injected an illicit drug more often then usual--referred to as "bingeing"--were at higher risk for HIV infection, while a similarly elevated risk was seen among native Canadian men who frequently used heroin.
Schechter and his colleagues concluded that the Vancouver-based native Canadian population is at particularly high risk for HIV infection, given that injection drug use is known to be higher in this group than among non-natives.