Europe in transition: HIV risk environment in Hungary is different from that in Russia and west Balkan states

doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7521.907

BMJ 2005;331:907 (15 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7521.907

Letter

Europe in transition

HIV risk environment in Hungary is different from that in Russia and west Balkan states

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—In Hungary the HIV risk environment is not quiteas severe as in Russia and the west Balkans, and the macro-environmental(especially economic and social) components are not the same.¹Hungary did not experience the rapid changes in its population;the collapse of its healthcare and welfare systems; or the precipitouseconomic, social, and cultural crises that took place in Russia.Hungarian drug policy, which contains elements of harm reduction,will also contribute to preventing the massive spread of infectiousdiseases. For example, qualitative studies on injecting drugusers in Hungary underline the importance of unlimited availabilityof injecting equipment in pharmacies and the help of needleexchange programmes (which are, however, available only in biggercities).²

Although the HIV prevalence is zero among injecting drug users,the prevalence of hepatitis C is about 30-35%. According toour experience, the HIV testing is wide-spread, but the opportunitiesfor . . . [Full text of this article]

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József Rácz, researcher, psychiatrist

Institute for Psychology, Victor Hugo 18-22, Budapest-1132, Hungary raczj@t-online.hu