US DRUG USERS' LEGACY OF HIV

More Deaths - Study

Zero tolerance to illicit drug use in New York has left a legacy of HIV
infection in injecting drug users and their children, a joint New
York-Sydney study shows.

Researchers at the University of NSW and the US National Development and
Research Institutes have followed a matched group of heroin users for three
years.

At the end of the period, half the 16 New York participants had died, six of
them from AIDS-related illnesses.

The only death in the Sydney group was attributed to an overdose.

In a letter to the Medical Journal of Australia, researchers Lisa Maher and
Bruce Johnson said the drug users in New York were less likely to use needle
exchange programs.

Despite the US's hard-line approach, over the past decade the country had
experienced increases in heroin purity, drug-related deaths and AIDS
relating to injecting drug use, they said.

``HIV infection in IDUs, their sexual partners and children is now the
driving force behind the epidemic in North America,'' the researchers said.

``By contrast, Australia's approach, characterised by pragmatism, tolerance
and bipartisan support for harm reduction, has achieved considerably better
outcomes.''