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People who inject drugs (PWIDs) are at risk of exposure to blood borne pathogens. India has a large PWID population and the highest HIV transmission is among PWIDs. Interventions to prevent risky injection is constantly tested by the scientific community and innovations are required in this area. 3748 male PWIDs were recruited into a longitudinal study. 2509 PWIDs who participated in the end of study survey, also responded to multiple open ended questions asked by the interviewers. The qualitative interviews were analyzed focusing on identifying themes and relationship among themes. 35.6% of the cohort had engaged in risky injection at least once. Although the project activities promoted safe injection practices among majority of the study participants; 35% is a substantial population at risk. Gaining knowledge about blood borne pathogen transmission, motivated participants to be careful about not sharing injection or paraphernalia. The belief that friends are safe made many share among themselves. Not prepared when the withdrawal set in was the main reason for sharing injection. The project intervention had stimulating effect on the PWIDs and they tried to stop injection and follow safe injection practices. However, a failure at least once is an exposure to blood borne pathogens. Hence teaching PWIDs to plan for their injection practice and keeping materials ready at hand is important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, the New Zealand (NZ) Parliament voted to decriminalise abortion. Although NZ's abortion law formally opposes sex selective abortions, there is considerable complexity in the gender politics of 'choice' and 'agency' in multi-ethnic societies, and interpretations of reproductive rights for ethnic minority women and for the girl child, respectively. This paper explores these complexities through the perspectives of reproductive and maternity care practitioners who are situated at the interface of legal systems, health service provision, and delivery of culturally sensitive care. Thirteen practitioners were interviewed as part of this study. The analysis highlights strains in framings of 'reproductive choice' (underpinned by western liberal notions of rights) and 'gender equality' (abortion rights that acknowledge the complexity of cultural son-preference) for ethnic minority women. These tensions are played out in three aspects of the post-reform landscape: (a) everyday practice and accountability; (b) consumerism and choice; (c) custodianship and gender rights. The findings point to the limitations in operationalising choices for ethnic women in health systems wherein trust deficit prevails, and cultural dynamics render complex responses to abortion. They also highlight reconfigurations of client-expert relationships that may have implications for practitioners' abilities to advocate for ethnic women's rights against cultural influences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Needle and syringe sharing is common among people who inject drugs and so is unprotected sex, which consequently puts their sex partners at risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV and other blood-borne infections, like hepatitis. We undertook a nested study with the regular female partners of men who inject drugs participating in a longitudinal HIV incidence study in Delhi, India. In-depth interviews were conducted with female partners of 32 men. The interviews aimed to gather focused and contextual knowledge of determinants of safe sex and reproductive health needs of these women. Information obtained through interviews was triangulated and linked to the baseline behavioural data of their partner (index men who injected drugs). The study findings illustrate that women in monogamous relationships have a low perception of STI- and HIV-related risk. Additionally, lack of awareness about hepatitis B and C is a cause of concern. Findings also suggest impact of male drug use on the fertility of the female partner. It is critical to empower regular female partners to build their self-risk assessment skills and self-efficacy to negotiate condom use. Future work must explore the role of drug abuse among men who inject drugs in predicting fertility and reproductive morbidity among their female partners. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]