Injecting drug use is associated with numerous health and social harms and accounts for the vast majority of hepatitis C infectious and fatal drug overdoses, making it an important global public health issue.

Much of the burden of viral hepatitis is in developing countries among people who inject drugs.

Injecting drug use is an important factor for transmission of viral hepatitis with the viruses more efficiently spread through unsafe drug injection than HIV.

Research and Public Health Focus

• Continue to follow a cohort of people who inject drugs with or at risk of hepatitis C using a social network approach
• In Myanmar, harm reduction, needle and syringe services, overdose prevention and management
• Outreach services to friends and family of people who inject drugs.

Centre for Research Excellence in Injecting Drug Use (CREIDU)

• Generated new evidence about ways to improve the health and social burden of injecting drug use in Australia and developed tools for translating research into policy and practice.