Sabawoon Ajmal, Naderi Sima, Sadaat Said Iftekhar, Rasheed Abdul, Atarud Alim, Tavakoli Fatemeh, Sahrifi Hamid, Mirzazadeh Ali
Kabul Medical University, Kabul, Afghanistan.
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York City, NY, USA.
Harm Reduct J. 2025 Mar 14;22(1):31. doi: 10.1186/s12954-025-01183-2.
People who inject drugs (PWID) remain at high risk for HIV in many countries, including Afghanistan. Previous reports on HIV testing and prevalence in Afghanistan were published in 2012. This study assessed recent HIV testing and self-reported HIV prevalence among male PWID in Afghanistan from 2019 to 2020.
We visited 374 public venues and hotpots where PWID used to gather and meet their peers across 8 cities in Afghanistan to enroll eligible participants in our study. Using interviews and a survey, our trained interviewers collected data on the demographics, types of drugs, HIV testing history, and self-reported HIV status of the participants. We analyzed the data using the venues and hotpots as clusters to report the percentages of recent HIV tests and self-reported HIV prevalence overall and in subgroups defined by demographic characteristics and locations.
Among the 1385 participants, most were from Kabul city (28.9%), spoke Dari (67.4%), were aged 25-34 years (42.1%), and were married (52.4%). Overall, 70.7% (95% CI 67.6-73.6) (ranging from 20.0% in Kandahar to 99.3% in Mazar-i-Sharif) were tested for HIV within the past 12 months. Among those who had ever been tested for HIV, 20.7% (95% CI 17.8-24.0) (ranging from 0% in Zarang to 63.2% in Kabul) reported being positive for HIV.
Compared with the results of a similar study in 2012, we found a significant improvement in HIV testing coverage among PWID in Afghanistan. The high self-reported HIV prevalence among this group also highlights the need for targeted screening and treatment programs for PWID in Afghanistan, particularly in the cities of Kabul and Jalalabad.
在包括阿富汗在内的许多国家，注射毒品者（PWID）仍然面临着较高的艾滋病毒感染风险。此前关于阿富汗艾滋病毒检测和流行情况的报告于2012年发布。本研究评估了2019年至2020年期间阿富汗男性注射毒品者最近的艾滋病毒检测情况以及自我报告的艾滋病毒感染率。
我们走访了阿富汗8个城市中374个注射毒品者过去常聚集并与同伴见面的公共场所和热点地区，以招募符合条件的参与者进入我们的研究。通过访谈和调查，我们训练有素的访谈人员收集了参与者的人口统计学信息、毒品类型、艾滋病毒检测史以及自我报告的艾滋病毒感染状况。我们以这些公共场所和热点地区为聚类对数据进行分析，以报告最近艾滋病毒检测的百分比以及总体和按人口统计学特征及地点定义的亚组中自我报告的艾滋病毒感染率。
在1385名参与者中，大多数来自喀布尔市（28.9%），说达里语（67.4%），年龄在25 - 34岁之间（42.1%），已婚（52.4%）。总体而言，在过去12个月内，70.7%（95%置信区间67.6 - 73.6）（范围从坎大哈的20.0%到马扎里沙里夫的99.3%）接受了艾滋病毒检测。在那些曾经接受过艾滋病毒检测的人中，20.7%（95%置信区间17.8 - 24.0）（范围从扎朗的0%到喀布尔的63.2%）报告艾滋病毒检测呈阳性。
与2012年的一项类似研究结果相比，我们发现阿富汗注射毒品者的艾滋病毒检测覆盖率有了显著提高。该群体中自我报告的艾滋病毒高感染率也凸显了在阿富汗，特别是在喀布尔和贾拉拉巴德市，为注射毒品者制定有针对性的筛查和治疗项目的必要性。
