Estimation of the Magnitude of People Who Inject Drugs in Hawassa, Ethiopia: A Descriptive Study

Abstract Background: - Injecting drug use contributes substantially to developing the HIV pandemic in many developing countries. Due to the hidden nature and stigma of the issue, it didn’t prove easy to investigate using regular surveys. Therefore, this research pursues to determine the magnitude of individuals who inject drugs in Hawassa and explain the epidemiological and social condition of HIV among people who inject drugs.Methods: - The study used rapid assessment methods and the combined method of estimating population, by nomination and multiplier methods, using two datasets. The first was the proportion of people who use service within a year as a multiplier. The second was a list of individuals with a condition who utilized a particular health service within a year as a benchmark. The rapid assessment included qualitative methods to extract information relevant to enumeration cites, selection of first seeds as data sources. The study made a simple description of the study subjects to yield socio-demographics and behaviours related to HIV and other health-related problems.Results: - The study estimated a total of estimated 688 (95% CI; 502, 991) people who inject drugs, with a prevalence of 266 per 100,000 people. The study found that people who inject drugs were more young age, male gender. They also lived in lower educational status, were unmarried, and living in small clerk businesses. People who inject drugs and have taken part in the study were more likely to use additional substances like alcohol, khat, and other hard substances like cannabis. The most common form of drug used was Cocaine (83.3%). Most of the PWIDs were sexually active with regular (50.3%) and casual partners (884.6%). They claimed to involve in risky sexual behavior. Conclusion and recommendation:- A significant number of people who inject drugs are available in Hawassa. Lack of assistance in harm reduction in the city has rendered PWIDs vulnerable and at greater risk for HIV/ AIDS. Therefore, the Ministry of Health and other relevant authorities have to start implementing the WHO’s nine key harm reduction measures provided by the World Health Organization.