title: Overview of HIV among injection drug users in New York City: critical next steps to eliminate racial/ethnic disparities.
abstract: At the start of the HIV epidemic, 50% of new infections were among injection drug users (IDUs) in New York City. While HIV has declined among IDUs since the mid-1990s, parenteral transmission continues to overburden Blacks/Hispanic IDUs. Individual risk behaviors do not explain the distribution of HIV/AIDS among IDUs. Social and/or structural factors are likely fueling racial disparities creating a high-risk socioenvironmental context. While increased access to structural interventions (i.e., syringe exchange and pharmacy syringe access) is needed, it may not be sufficient to eliminate HIV/AIDS disparities among IDUs. Research on incorporating structural factors into intervention strategies is needed.
authors.affiliation: Center for Family and Community Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amesty
authors.forename: Alexis V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Rivera
authors.forename: Crystal M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Fuller
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D055030:Drug Users; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000635:transmission; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016485:Needle Sharing; D018671:Needle-Exchange Programs; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000208:ethnology*