Handbook on Risk of AIDS

Intravenous drug users account for nearly one-third of the current AIDS cases in the United States--second only to gay males--and are responsible for 72 percent of female and 59 percent of pediatric cases of AIDS. Thus the National Institute of Drug Abuse launched a major effort in 1987 to locate hidden users and to see how they function and to evaluate strategies and community-based programs in 50 cities and 60 nearby communities around the country in order to lower risks to IV users and to reduce the dangers that they pose to others in the population. Brown and Beschner present the very latest findings and come to well-tested conclusions about how to change behaviors positively. This handbook is written for use in college, university, and professional libraries and for students, teachers, policymakers, and practitioners in public health service and in public policy at all governmental levels to study carefully.

Brown and Beschner open with an introduction showing how injection drug users and their sexual partners are at risk for aids. Part I describes the spread of AIDS in the United States and Puerto Rico. Part II depicts patterns of injection drug and crack use and their effect on sex partners. Part III deals with gender issues. Part IV goes into demographic and background factors. Part V discusses key issues in the use of drug abuse treatment. Part VI analyzes outreach and behavior change strategies. And Part VI looks into how risk can be reduced as a result of outreach and specific intervention strategies. The final chapter comes to some conclusions about the effectiveness of various interventions by the National AIDS Demonstration Research Project. Background readings also add to the importance of this major reference.

BARRY S. BROWN was Chief of the Community Research Branch of the National Institute of Drug Abuse of the Public Health Service until 1992. He is the author of Addicts and Aftercare-Community Intergration of the Former Drug User (1979) and of multiple national reports, chapters in books, and professional journal articles on the subject of drug abuse and drug treatment. He is currently on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

GEORGE M. BESCHNER, a THI Senior Research Associate, is Principal Investigator of two drug abuse research projects: a national epidemiology study of drug abuse patterns and trends, and quick response studies to address policy issues./e Previously, Mr. Beschner was employed by NIDA (1971-88), serving as Chief of the Treatment Research Branch and, more recently, designed and directed the National AIDS Demonstration Research Project.

BARRY S. BROWN was Chief of the Community Research Branch of the National Institute of Drug Abuse of the Public Health Service until 1992. He is the author of Addicts and Aftercare-Community Intergration of the Former Drug User (1979) and of multiple national reports, chapters in books, and professional journal articles on the subject of drug abuse and drug treatment. He is currently on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

GEORGE M. BESCHNER, a THI Senior Research Associate, is Principal Investigator of two drug abuse research projects: a national epidemiology study of drug abuse patterns and trends, and quick response studies to address policy issues./e Previously, Mr. Beschner was employed by NIDA (1971-88), serving as Chief of the Treatment Research Branch and, more recently, designed and directed the National AIDS Demonstration Research Project.