Pubdate: Mon, 02 Aug 1999 Source: Illawarra Mercury (Australia) Copyright: Illawarra Newspapers Contact: http://mercury.illnews.com.au/ US DRUG USERS' LEGACY OF HIV More Deaths - Study Zero tolerance to illicit drug use in New York has left a legacy of HIV infection in injecting drug users and their children, a joint New York-Sydney study shows. Researchers at the University of NSW and the US National Development and Research Institutes have followed a matched group of heroin users for three years. At the end of the period, half the 16 New York participants had died, six of them from AIDS-related illnesses. The only death in the Sydney group was attributed to an overdose. In a letter to the Medical Journal of Australia, researchers Lisa Maher and Bruce Johnson said the drug users in New York were less likely to use needle exchange programs. Despite the US's hard-line approach, over the past decade the country had experienced increases in heroin purity, drug-related deaths and AIDS relating to injecting drug use, they said. ``HIV infection in IDUs, their sexual partners and children is now the driving force behind the epidemic in North America,'' the researchers said. ``By contrast, Australia's approach, characterised by pragmatism, tolerance and bipartisan support for harm reduction, has achieved considerably better outcomes.'' - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck