AIDS and drug addiction is a topic of great and growing concern. AIDS first appeared among intravenous drug users in Europe in 1984, three years after the first cases were seen among homosexuals. This epidemic has spread more rapidly among intravenous drug users than in any other risk group. The high rates of HIV-1 seroprevalence among drug users in France, Italy, and Spain account for 85% of the total number of AIDS in intravenous drug users in Europe. It is anticipated that HIV-infected drug users will soon place a heavy burden on both drug treatment facilities and specialized health care units. The HIV-1 epidemic will also cross the former iron curtain. This contribution covers the wide and complex scene of drug problems and addiction as a whole. It gives researchers an opportunity to obtain background information on the spread of HIV and AIDS among intravenous drug users as well as on the clinical and psychological effects of HIV-1 infection and AIDS in Europe. The topics reviewed include surveys of intravenous drug use, HIV prevalence, detoxification, risk reduction, changing health behaviors, evaluating AIDS interventions and the impact of methadone maintenance treatment. This monograph will be of value to all clinicians, researchers, and policy makers who are concerned with the connection between intravenous drug use and AIDS.

InhaltsangabeEpidemiology.- Observations on the Stabilization of HIV Seroprevalence Among Injecting Drug Users.- HIV-Antibody Testing and Risk-Prone Behaviour Amongst i.v.-DU's in Oslo, Norway.- HIV-Prevalence and Mortality in Relation to Type of Drug Abuse Among Drug Addicts in Stockholm 1981-1988.- HIV-Related Drug Addict Deaths Outside Medical Institutions in Stockholm.- HIV Infection in 403 Female Prostitutes in Italy.- How to Explain the Low Figures of AIDS Cases Among Intravenous Drug Addicts in Belgium?.- Drug Addiction and AIDS in Republic of Croatia and Yugoslavia.- Drug Abuse in Spain: Epidemiology, Policy and Health Structure.- Drug Abuse and HIV-Infection in Poland.- HIV-1-Prevalence Among Drug Deaths in Germany.- Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and AIDS in Drug Deaths.- Monitoring of HIV-Spread in Regional Populations of Injecting Drug Users - The Berlin Experience.- 5 Years Follow-up on Viennese Heroin Addicts.- Antibody Prevalence of Parenterally Transmitted Viruses (HIV-1, HTLV-I, HBV, HCV) in Austrian Intravenous Drug Users.- Statistical Investigation on the Relation of Intravenous Drug Addiction and HIV-Infection. A Survey of the Years 1985 to 1989 by the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Vienna.- HIV-1 Infection Among Intravenous Drug Users in Vienna 1986-1991.- Methadone Treatment.- Opioid Receptors.- Addiction Potential of Opiates in Medical Use.- Methadone Maintenance Treatment for Harm Reduction Approach to Heroin Addiction.- Methadone Maintenance: A Medical Approach to Heroin Addiction.- Intravenous Methadone Maintenance: A British Response to Persistent Opiate Injectors.- The Impact of Methadone Maintenance Treatment on the Spread of HIV Among i.v. Heroin Addicts in Sweden.- Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) in Stockholm, Sweden.- Methadone Treatment for Opiate-Addicted Patients First Experiences of a Prospective Trial.- HIV and Methadone Treatment: The German Experience.- Drug Addiction Treatment in Italy in the 80s: Fear of Treatment.- Psycho-Social and Psychopathological Features as Predictors of Response to Long Term and High Dosages Methadone Treatment.- Methadone Maintenance and Delinquency Rates of Opioid Drug Users.- Course and Outcome of HIV-Positive Drug Addicts in a Methadone Treatment Program.- Management and Treatment.- Managing AIDS: The European Centre/WHO Collaborative Study and Database Project.- AIDS Fear and Risk Behavior in Intravenous Drug Users.- HIV-Risk and Social Integration in Groups of Drug-Addicts.- Assessment of the Work with Pregnant i.v. Drug Users in Oslo.- Treatment of Heroin Abuse and AIDS in Italy.- Neuropsychiatric Problems and Psychotropic Medication in Patients with AIDS. Data from Warsaw.- Neopterin to Predict Disease Progression in Intravenous Drug Users Infected with HIV-1.- Spect and Transcranial Doppler Sonography for the Assessment of Cerebral Perfusion in Intravenous Drug Users with AIDS Encephalopathy.- The Treatment with Dextromethorphan of Heroin Addicts.- Buprenorphine: An Opioid Mixed Agonist-Antagonist as Possible Antidote for Acute Cocaine Toxicity.- Criminal Law and AIDS.- The Crisis and Opportunity of AIDS and Drug Misuse.- Prevention.- Observed Patterns of HIV Related Risk Behaviour Amongst Intravenous Drug Users Attending a Dublin Needle Exchange in Its First Year.- Outreach Work as a Strategy for Risk Reduction in Hard-to-Reach Populations. For Example: Injecting Drug Users.- AIDS Risk Behavior Among Intravenous Drug Users Hospitalized in a Public Psychiatric Hospital.- Campaigns of Fear and Behaviour Change in UK Drug Users.- Resocialization and AIDS-Prevention by Remedacen Substitution.- A Treatment Model to Heroin Addicts in Italy.- The Importance of i.v. Drug Users Personality Traits in AIDS Prevention.