Oral

Barriers to accessing prevention and care--especially for those most in need and who also may be least capable of securing help, such as injection drug users--constitute a particularly insidious social injustice. A growing body of literature suggests that risks for HIV and other drug-related harms may be socially produced, with examples of the “risk environment” operating at the physical level (e.g., places where drug use occurs), social level (e.g., relationship dynamics) and policy level (e.g., laws, official policies surrounding sterile syringe access) resulting in barriers/lack of access to necessary assistance. The purpose of this session is to analyze, through epidemiologic methods, the impacts of these barriers on those most affected by them as well as on the larger public, and to assess means for dealing with them.

Session Objectives: Assess, through epidemiologic methods, the impact of barriers to care/help for injecting drug users. Analyze the nature of these impacts, e.g., elevated HIV and other infectious disease rates, public safety. Evaluate strategies for dealing with barriers and related impacts.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)