1Associate Professor, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Sri Amritsar
2Professor, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Sri Amritsar
3MD Chest and TB, District TB Officer, Amritsar
4Professor and Head, Department of Community Medicine, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Sri Amritsar
*Corresponding author: Dr. Manisha Nagpal, Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar, Punjab, India. E-mail: manishaspm@gmail.com, Phone no. 9855554545
Online published on 26 September, 2019.
Drug abuse and HIV/AIDS are major health issues worldwide with an immense impact on human health. People who engage in drug use or high-risk behaviours associated with drug use put themselves at risk for contracting viral infections like HIV/AIDS. So, awareness among them is essential.
This cross-sectional study was conducted on all drug abusers visiting Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) centre from 1st April 2019 to 31st May 2019 and who had given consent for HIV testing. Awareness about HIV/AIDS was ascertained and valid conclusions drawn. Data management and analysis was done by using Microsoft excel and SPSS.
Out of 376 drug abusers, 349 (92.8%) were males and 27 (7.2%) were females. Educational status of the study subjects was significantly associated with the awareness about the disease.
On statistical analysis, it was observed that 7.7% of the patients were HIV positive and educational status was significantly associated with the awareness about the various aspects of the disease (p<0.005).
Drug abuse, HIV/AIDS, awareness, Socio-demographic factors
