Program Resources & Best Practices

Since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, the focus on HIV prevention, treatment and care among people who use drugs has concentrated on the needs of people who inject drugs, and mainly on those who inject opioids. However, data show that there are HIV-related risks associated with the use of non-injecting stimulant drugs, as well as with the unsafe injection of such drugs, including cocaine, amphetamine-type stimulants (excluding MDMA), and stimulant new psychoactive substances. Use of stimulant drugs has also been associated with higher risk of HIV transmission through unsafe sexual behaviors in certain subsets of key populations.