Training Title:
Substance Abuse and Infectious Diseases - Part 2

Clock Hours: 1.5

Objectives:
At the completion of this course, participants will be able to: • Identify risks of using injection drugs • Identify the contribution of substance abuse to risk factors for various infectious diseases • Identify recommended interventions that might contribute to a reduction in the transmission of these various infectious diseases

Description:
This second in a two course series explores the connection between substance abuse, especially of injection drugs, and infectious diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis, Tuberculosis and Sexually Transmitted Disease. Using data collected from a range of national surveys, SAMHSA, NIDA and the World Health Organization (WHO) have produced brief summary reports on injection drug use and infectious disease, screening rates for infectious disease, HIV and drug use, hepatitis and drug use and sexually transmitted diseases. Information from a 2009 review of the literature on TB and drug abuse has also been summarized and included. These summaries indicate that drug treatment is a significant preventive tool in the fight against the spread of infectious diseases, but still there are too many people who have latent or undiagnosed infections and/or are not receiving treatment or staying in treatment once they start. It is paramount that drug treatment providers begin to see themselves as part of the public health system in its efforts to effectively reduce the transmission of these infectious diseases – and, in doing so, become more committed to screening, testing, treating and retaining infected individuals in treatment for their substance abuse and for their infectious diseases – whether provided internally to their programs or externally by other providers. Keywords: Infections, infectious diseases, substance abuse, addiction, dependence, drug use, alcoholism, injection drug use, HIV, Hepatitis, HBV, HCV, HAV, TB, tuberculosis, STDs, sexually transmitted diseases, IV drug use, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C

Approval Bodies