Prevalence of Hepatitis C Related to Injection Drug Use in Central Asia

"Prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and of syphilis among IDUs can indicate the extent of risky injecting and sexual behaviours respectively. HCV prevalence among IDUs exceeds 60% in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and 70% in parts of Kazakhstan, and up to one in six IDUs have syphilis (table 3).^31,55,58 Female IDUs are particularly vulnerable to infection with HIV, HCV, and STIs, because of the exchange of sex for drugs or money and risky injecting behaviours:52,59 28% of female IDUs in a study in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, had syphilis (75% of whom reported transactional sex) compared with 13% of men,55 and in a study in Kazakhstan, female IDUs were 2·3-times more likely to be HIV positive than men and had a syphilis prevalence of 11% compared with 5% among male IDUs.³⁷ The estimated 20–24% of male IDUs who have sex with female sex workers also underscores how these risk groups intersect.^32,47,56,57"