Pakistan: New study - Afghan war led to increase in HIV/AIDS

[I AM SPARTACUS]

http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/3f98a4b0cb097fda49256d6400236a57?OpenDocument

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ISLAMABAD, 15 July (IRIN) - A recent US study has suggested that the war in Afghanistan in 2001 led to a higher HIV risk among drug users in neighbouring Pakistan and warns that immediate action is needed to prevent an epidemic. The study's principal author, Dr Steffanie Strathdee, said the report highlighted how the effects of military action can be more far-reaching than initial casualty assessments show.

"Our study illustrates how complex emergencies like war can directly or indirectly exacerbate vulnerabilities to infectious diseases, in this case by leading to increases in needle sharing," Strathdee told IRIN from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, USA.

The report, entitled "The Rise in Needle Sharing Among Drug Users in Pakistan during the Afghanistan War" was published in the July issue of the "Journal of Drug and Alcohol Dependence". It was based on research by Strathdee's team from Baltimore and NGOs based in Pakistan.
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[DagmarK]

1. Oh, I am *sure* the rise in needle sharing and hence HIV infection

has zero to do with the fact that Afghanistan's poppy/heroin trade has gone up FIVE HUNDRED PERCENT since we went in to save the afghans from the Taliban.

Oh......so much destruction.........

[Eye and Monkey]

2. War in Afghanistan?

Vague memories for BushCo.