Publication:
The drugs that dare not speak their name: Injecting and other illicit drug use during treatment for hepatitis C infection

dc.contributor.author Hopwood, Max en_US
dc.contributor.author Treloar, Carla en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2021-11-25T15:07:29Z
dc.date.available 2021-11-25T15:07:29Z
dc.date.issued 2007 en_US
dc.description.abstract Exploration of patients` illicit drug use during treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is largely absent from the clinical literature. This paper explores injecting and other illicit drug use among people receiving interferon-based treatment for HCV infection, from the perspective of one group of health professionals. Data are presented from a qualitative study of six health professionals responsible for managing HCV treatment regimens at three major metropolitan hospitals across Sydney, Australia. During semi-structured in-depth interviews, participants discussed patients` use of injected and non-injected illicit drugs while coping with a demanding therapeutic regimen. Health professionals highlighted the socially conservative environment of healthcare and its negative perceptions of illicit drug users. Also discussed are the management of people who inject during treatment and the efficacy of cannabis to reduce side effects. The findings of this study indicate that while the health professionals adopted a harm reduction approach to patients` illicit drug use during HCV treatment, information regarding the risks and benefits of illicit drug use is silenced in this context. While ever prohibition remains Australia`s illicit drug policy this situation appears unlikely to change. Research which investigates the extent of illicit drug use during HCV treatment, the risks and benefits associated with their use in this context, and the harms of perpetuating a duplicitous healthcare system is required. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. en_US
dc.identifier.issn 0955-3959 en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/44159
dc.language English
dc.language.iso EN en_US
dc.rights CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 en_US
dc.rights.uri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/ en_US
dc.source Legacy MARC en_US
dc.subject.other hepatitis C treatment en_US
dc.subject.other illicit drug use en_US
dc.subject.other injecting drug use en_US
dc.title The drugs that dare not speak their name: Injecting and other illicit drug use during treatment for hepatitis C infection en_US
dc.type Journal Article en
dcterms.accessRights metadata only access
dspace.entity.type Publication en_US
unsw.accessRights.uri http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_14cb
unsw.relation.faculty Arts Design & Architecture
unsw.relation.ispartofissue 5 en_US
unsw.relation.ispartofjournal International Journal of Drug Policy en_US
unsw.relation.ispartofpagefrompageto 374-380 en_US
unsw.relation.ispartofvolume 18 en_US
unsw.relation.originalPublicationAffiliation Hopwood, Max, National Centre in HIV Social Research, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, UNSW en_US
unsw.relation.originalPublicationAffiliation Treloar, Carla, National Centre in HIV Social Research, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, UNSW en_US
unsw.relation.school Centre for Social Research in Health *
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