Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40087689›Full record

ArticleHarm reduction journal2025

Recent HIV testing and self-reported HIV prevalence among men who inject drugs in Afghanistan: a nationwide survey in 2019-2020.

Ajmal Sabawoon, Sima Naderi, Said Iftekhar Sadaat, Abdul Rasheed, Alim Atarud, Fatemeh Tavakoli, Hamid Sahrifi, Ali Mirzazadeh

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Article in Harm reduction journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Ajmal SabawoonKabul Medical University, Kabul, Afghanistan.
Sima NaderiInstitute for Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Said Iftekhar SadaatInstitute for Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Abdul RasheedHealth Commons Solutions Lab, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Alim AtarudIndependent Global Health Consult, Kabul, Afghanistan.
Fatemeh TavakoliHIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, WHO Collaborating Center for HIV Surveillance, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
Hamid SahrifiHIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, WHO Collaborating Center for HIV Surveillance, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
Ali MirzazadehInstitute for Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA. ali.mirzazadeh@ucsf.edu.

Funding

Int'l Traineeships in AIDS Prevention Studies (ITAPS)R25MH064712 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI LINDAN, CHRISTINA P · 2002 to 2018
$3.4M
Short Trainings on Methods for Recruiting, Sampling, and Counting Hard-to-Reach Populations: The H2R Training ProgramR25MH129290 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI ARAYASIRIKUL, SEAN, HOFFMANN, THOMAS · 2022 to 2025
$868k
NIMH NIH HHS 5R25MH129290-02NIMH NIH HHS R25 MH064712NIMH NIH HHS R25MH064712NIMH NIH HHS R25 MH129290United Nations Development Programme AFG/GS/2018/084
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPeople 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.

methodWe 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.

resultsAmong 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.

conclusionCompared 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.

Indexed as

HIV InfectionsHIV TestingSubstance Abuse, IntravenousAdolescentAdultAfghanistanHumansMaleMiddle AgedPrevalenceSelf ReportSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung AdultAfghanistanHIV prevalenceHIV testingPeople who inject drugs

Identifiers

PMID40087689
PMCPMC11907865

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LicenceCC BY
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.