Needle and syringe exchanges need to adapt to meet the needs of people who inject steroids etc.
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By Roger Pebody
The numbers of people injecting steroids and other image-enhancing drugs has increased significantly in the last decade and harm-reduction services need to develop new skills if they are to help people using these drugs avoid blood-borne viruses, the 24th International Harm Reduction Conference in Kuala Lumpur was told on Wednesday. Surveys in the United Kingdom suggest that rates of HIV and hepatitis infections are significantly higher in people using these drugs than in the general population.
Anabolic steroids are by far the most frequently used product, but agencies also report significant numbers of clients injecting peptide hormones, human growth hormone, and melanotan and other skin tanning agents. Collectively, they are variously referred to as steroids and image-enhancing drugs (SIEDs), performance and image-enhancing drugs (PIEDs), or image and performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs).
The issue has been best documented in high-income countries (the conference...
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