title: Rejuvenating harm reduction projects for injection drug users: Ukraine's nationwide introduction of peer-driven interventions.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A peer-driven intervention (PDI) for injecting drug users (IDUs) was implemented in five Ukrainian city-sites to test-pilot its effectiveness in rejuvenating harm reduction (HR) projects that had become moribund. A PDI relies on drug users in a unique way to educate their peers in the community and recruit them for HIV prevention services. The goal of the PDI was to recruit in six month 500 IDUs who had never been respondents before to each of the five HR projects, especially stimulant- and women-injectors, and IDUs<25 years of age.
  
  
  METHODS
  We standardized the PDI's structure and operations across all five sites. All five PDIs were started in May 2007 using a carefully selected handful of "seed" IDU-recruiters who were trained to educate three peers who had never received HR services. We also accessed the database of all five projects and analysed the new respondents they recruited six-months prior to the start-up of the PDIs with the new recruits generated by the PDIs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Whilst the HR projects in the five city-sites recruited 72 new respondents on average during the six months prior to the PDIs' start-up, the PDIs recruited 455 new respondents on average in each city during their six months of operation, indicating that the PDI was 6.3 times more powerful as a recruitment mechanism. Compared to traditional outreach the PDIs resulted in significant increases in the recruitment of women- and young-injectors, and IDUs who injected a more diverse variety of drugs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PDI can have a rejuvenating effect when added to HR projects that had become stagnate over time, resulting in an increase in the number and diversity of new IDU-respondents.
authors.affiliation: The International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine. Smyrnov@aidsalliance.org.ua
authors.forename: Pavlo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Smyrnov
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Broadhead
authors.forename: Oleksandra
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Datsenko
authors.forename: Oksana
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Matiyash
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D040261:Harm Reduction; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018579:Patient Selection; D010379:Peer Group; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012737:Sex Factors; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014455:Ukraine; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants