title: A cross-sectional study of the feasibility of pharmacy-delivered harm reduction services among people who inject drugs in Xichang, China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  HIV prevalence is high in Liangshan, China (1.1 %). In 2012, people who inject drugs (PWID) in Xichang, the capital city, contributed to 60.0 % of the HIV infections. The goal of the current study was to examine the feasibility of implementing pharmacy-delivered harm reduction services (PDHRS) for PWID.
  
  
  METHODS
  Face-to-face structured interviews with 403 PWID included questions on PWID's experiences of syringe services and their specific experiences, acceptance, and potential usage of PDHRS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were some reports of harassment/bad treatment from pharmacists (12.2 %) and police (17.6 %). Non-prescription syringe sales (NPSS) from pharmacies in single piece were the main source (82.1 %) of syringes. 72.5 % of PWID reported visiting 31.5 % of the identified pharmacies. Most (74.7 %) PWID disposed of their used syringes by throwing them away. Only one PWID brought used syringes back to a pharmacy in the past 30 days. Half of the PDHRS, such as printed materials about HIV, Hepatitis C and STIs; risk reduction services; (16.9 %) and sharps container to dispose of syringes (0.2 %) were offered by a few pharmacies (<20 % for each service). The acceptance rates among PWID toward currently offered services were high (≥91.1 %). All potential PDHRS were acceptable by most (68-95.3 %) PWID, and correspondingly 67-94.5 % of PWID reported they would use each service if offered.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NPSS from pharmacies provided many PWID in Liangshan with new syringes. However, disposal of used syringes was problematic. At the time of investigation, half of 16 assessed PDHRS were already available in pharmacies in Xichang. PWID were ready to use all the potential PDHRS and14 of 16 PDHRS were feasible to provide. HIV testing kits may be available in pharmacies in the future. Many pharmacy-delivered harm reduction services are feasible and acceptable among PWID in Xichang, China.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine and Health Administration, School of Administration, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1166 Liutai Avenue, Wenjiang District, Chengdu, 611137, China. thehanyang@163.com.|Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2213 McElderry St. 2nd FL, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. thehanyang@163.com.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2213 McElderry St. 2nd FL, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. carl.latkin@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Carl A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Latkin
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, 610041, China. luan_rs@scu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Rongsheng
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Luan
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2213 McElderry St. 2nd FL, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. cyang29@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Cui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D003132:Commerce; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D040261:Harm Reduction; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009339:Needles; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services; D010594:Pharmacies; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous; D013594:Syringes; D055815:Young Adult