Study links increased access to methadone and decrease in spread of HIV

published on August 10, 2015 by John Ackermann in News 1130

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – There is a link between increased access to methadone for injection drug users and a decrease in the spread of HIV, according to a new study.

Dr. Keith Ahamad with the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS says researchers looked at a group of users on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside over a 13-year period.

“We noticed that those who were prescribed methadone when we first saw them … were significantly less likely – almost four times less likely – to contract HIV,” he explains.

The study, published in the journal “The Lancet HIV,” recommends other jurisdictions adopt BC’s model of allowing methadone be prescribed by primary care physicians.