More Heroin Could See Spike in HIV Rates: Australian National Council on Drugs

The Australian National Council on Drugs' Asia-Pacific Committee is warning that a global increase in heroin production could mean more cases of HIV and hepatitis C at home.

Conflict in the Middle East and a breakdown of law and order in southwest Asia increase the likelihood that more heroin will make its way to Australia. The independent advisory organization said its data show heroin importation has already increased, with record-high border detection seen in 2006-07.

Heroin use and related overdoses have declined since 2001, said Associate Professor Robert Ali, the committee's chair. "In Australia, the level of heroin consumption has been relatively stable since the interruption of supply in 2001," he said. "But if we start to see an increase in availability, we'll get a recruitment of new drug users."

That could translate into more HIV and hepatitis C infections, said Ali. "It's recruiting a new group of users into injecting who think there is no HIV and don't know much about hepatitis C and just feeling that it's not risky. There's a perception that all of this has gone away, that it's no longer a problem [but] there is a real risk of breakout of HIV and hepatitis C in those populations."

According to Ali, working with neighboring countries could help thwart the heroin trade. "The supply routes inevitably end up feeding local demand, and if you choke local demand by getting people into effective treatment interventions you starve that secondary demand," Ali said, adding, "we need to get ahead of the game."

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