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The prevention of infectious diseases in drug users: the experience of working in Harlem
David Vlahov, Director for the Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies at the New York Academy of Medicine and Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at Mailman at the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University
Abstract
To prevent HIV infection among injection drug users in Harlem, a number of programs have been put together including education, testing and counseling, bleach distribution, needle exchange and drug abuse treatment. We enlisted the assistance of retail pharmacists to expand HIV prevention services. The program involved community mobilization involving outreach to drug users, training of pharmacists, and community meetings to educate the community. The rationale for educating the community was to develop support of the pharmacists so that pharmacists would be comfortable in doing this project. We perfomed this program in Harlem and had South Bronx as the comparison zone. We measured knowledge, attitudesand practices of the drug users, pharmacists and a sample of the community before and after the intervention. The program showed community support, pharmacist seeing themselves as public health practitioners and reduced needle sharing among drug users. Community mobilization programs are expanding.
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Biography
David Vlahov is Director, Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies at the New York Academy of Medicine and Professor of Epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. He has been Principal Investigator of the ALIVE study which has followed 3000 injection drug users every six months for over 20 years to examine incidence and risk factors for HIV infection, prognostic indicators for AIDS, and effectiveness of HIV treatment in drug users. For this work, he received the NIH MERIT Award.
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