Prevalence of Hepatitis B and C, Tuberculosis, and Human Immune Deficiency Virus among injection drug users of Punjab, Pakistan-A cross sectional study

Objective: To determine prevalence and factors associated with various infectious diseases such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV, and Tuberculosis, among injection drug users (IDUs), from different rehabilitation centers in several cities of Punjab region in Pakistan. Methods: This study was conducted between September, 2019 – September, 2020. Total 78 rehabilitation centers were contacted, out of which 21 responded and 57 didn't, even after having focus group discussions with the centers’ administrators. Centers contacted were chosen randomly over various cities of Punjab; with Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala being major focus. A predesigned questionnaire with several open and closed ended questions was filled via interviewing each rehabilitation center administrator/staff to collect data for the study. Results: We found a prevalence of 7.96% for HBV, 9.61% for HIV, 0.82% for TB, and the highest 32.69% for HCV amongst the surveyed cohort. Conclusion: It is concluded that prevalence of infectious diseases in injection drug users is significantly higher than overall reported incidence, thus needs proper disease surveillance and mitigation programs on national level.