"Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and significant parts of Asia are experiencing explosive growth in new HIV infections, driven largely by injecting drug use (UNAIDS, 2006). While the primary route of transmission in most of these areas is sharing of contaminated injecting equipment, sexual and perinatal transmission among IDUs [injecting drug users] and their partners also plays an important and growing role. In many highly affected countries, rapid growth in the number of IDUs infected with HIV has already created a public health crisis. Countries where the level of HIV infection is still relatively low have the chance -- if they act now -- to slow the spread of HIV."
Committee on the Prevention of HIV Infection among Injecting Drug Users in High-Risk Countries, "Preventing HIV Infection among Injecting Drug Users in High Risk Countries: An Assessment of the Evidence" (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2006), p. 187.
