[C10825] Drug use among sex worker group in HochiMinh City,
Vietnam

T.H.O. Nguyen dac, N.G.A. Le ngoc Medicine preventive
center, 699 Tran hung Dao str., Hochiminh city, Vietnam,
Vietnam


Background: : To explain the rapidly increasing on HIV
seroprevalence among sex worker group of HIV/AIDS sentinel
surveillance program in HCMC 1999. Behavioural and
biological data have been used to assess one another. Two
sets of data pointing in the same direction can be
appropriate to identify which habits are at risk sex workers
have done to expose to HIV

Methods: : A cross-sectional survey of behaviour were
carried out in sex worker site of HIV/AIDS sentinel
serosurveillance system in April and May 2000.

370 eligible sex workers were interviewed about drug use,
sexual practices and tested for HIV. Descriptive statistics
were used to process data.

Results: : 111 sex workers (30%) were drug users, in which
injecting and non-injecting (47.7% and 52.3% respectively).
First, they were non-injecting drug users and the mean
interval for switching to injecting use was 14.5 months.
Among sex workers having drug use, 65.8% of them had prior
history of drug use.

The overall HIV seroprevalence was 22.4% (2.3% in 1998,
14.5% in 1999) while seroprevalence was 12.4% in non-drug
users, 27.6% in non-injecting drug users and 67.9% in
injecting drug users.

Conclusions: : The situation that injecting drug users have
commercial sexual practices and sex workers have drug use
make the spread of HIV infection more serious and suggests
that preventive interventions for risk reductions of HIV
transmission are urgently needed in this group.

Presenting Author: Tho Nguyen dac,