LIVING ON THE STREET INCREASES HIV RISK FOR ADDICTS, STUDY FINDS

VANCOUVER - Homeless drug addicts in Vancouver are 59 per cent more likely
to become infected with HIV than addicts living in housing, according to a
new study by the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.

The study, appearing later this month in the journal Health & Place, is
based on data collected by the Vancouver Injection Drug User Study (VIDUS),
which has followed the lives of more than 1,500 drug addicts in Vancouver
since 1996.

Study participants who were not infected with the human immunodeficiency
virus at the beginning of the study were far more likely to become infected
if they were in unstable housing -- defined as living on the street, in a
shelter or in a single-room occupancy hotel (SRO) -- than those in an
apartment or house.

Evan Wood, one of the study's primary authors along with Trevor Corneil,
said that this appears to be because homeless addicts are more likely to
engage in high-risk behaviour.

"They're more likely to inject cocaine or heroin daily," he said. "They're
more likely to borrow syringes.... And they're more likely to be involved
in the sex trade."

Judy Graves, who conducts counts of the homeless for the City of Vancouver,
said the findings don't surprise her.

She said many homeless people are enticed into having sex with strangers in
order to have a dry and warm place to sleep overnight.