VANCOUVER, Jan. 11, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine and the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) have joined forces to respond to a highly concentrated HIV epidemic driven by the injection of prescription opioids in Austin, Indiana.
Austin, in Scott County, has an estimated population of 4,200 with approximately 10 percent of the population injecting opioids on a daily basis. Since last year, 184 new HIV infections have been identified.
The joint effort will provide an opportunity to leverage successes achieved by the BC-CfE in British Columbia by applying its effective HIV Treatment as Prevention® model to a rural setting in the United States. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), an agency of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is supporting the effort with a two-year, $200,000 grant, with additional funding coming from the School of Medicine's Department of Medicine.
"We are embarking on this project with a sense of optimism and hope, bolstered by the NIH support, the accomplishments of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and our expertise in delivering HIV care in resource-constrained settings," said Kara Wools-Kaloustian, M.D., associate professor of medicine and director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the IU School of Medicine.
"We have a chance to reverse the course of this HIV epidemic by implementing fast-acting and effective evidence-based strategies. Using innovations in science and technology, as well as targeted and compassionate approaches to reach those affected by this outbreak, this has the potential to decrease HIV transmission and help save lives within the state of Indiana," she said.
Through this effort, researchers will implement strategies and technologies previously shown to be successful in British Columbia and will investigate, track, and curb the spread of HIV in Indiana.
The international team aims to identify factors that affect whether individuals seek and continue with HIV treatment. The team will apply mapping technology to track and assess risk factors for HIV transmission, and laboratory-based research will provide a precise, but anonymous, view into clustering of HIV transmission events. Finally, researchers will investigate how to effectively counter the public health harms of injection drug use through the expansion of harm reduction services and other programs at both the patient and system-level.
"Treatment as Prevention® has been implemented across diverse international jurisdictions from China to Panama to major cities within the United States," said Julio Montaner, M.D., director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS who will be co-leading the research.
"The situation in Indiana marks a critical need for implementing best practices in harm reduction and HIV prevention. Treatment as Prevention® is a model for opening up access to early HIV treatment and care, for reducing stigma, and for targeted disease elimination," Dr. Montaner said. "Providing sustained, consistent treatment and care ensures that an individual's viral load decreases, dramatically reducing the likelihood of disease progression and secondarily stopping HIV transmission."
"This is an excellent opportunity to expand the successful scientific model implemented within British Columbia and create public health programs that can save lives, applying lessons learned to a growing prescription opioid addiction and drug use problem," said Jacques Normand, Ph.D., director of AIDS Research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS will work to complement efforts by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies to improve HIV prevention, diagnosis and care for the residents of Scott County.
About Indiana University School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases
The Division of Infectious Diseases at Indiana University School of Medicine (ID-IUSM) is committed to providing superb clinical care, education and research in infectious diseases. ID-IUSM's basic and clinical research endeavors promote the acquisition of knowledge concerning infectious diseases and lead to innovative strategies to combat pathogens. The division has a decades-long commitment to the care and treatment of patients infected with HIV and is a leader in developing and evaluating HIV care models adapted for resource-constrained settings.
About the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) is Canada's largest HIV/AIDS research, treatment and education facility and is internationally recognized as an innovative world leader in combating HIV/AIDS and related diseases. BC-CfE is based at St. Paul's Hospital, Providence Health Care, a teaching hospital of the University of British Columbia. The BC-CfE works in close collaboration with key provincial stakeholders, including government, health authorities, health care providers, academics from other institutions, and the community to decrease the health burden of HIV and AIDS. By developing, monitoring and disseminating comprehensive research and treatment programs for HIV and related illnesses, the BC-CfE helps improve the health of British Columbians.
About the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world's research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy and improve practice. Fact sheets on the health effects of drugs of abuse and information on NIDA research and other activities can be found at www.drugabuse.gov, which is now compatible with your smartphone, iPad or tab