Addressing the specific needs of women who inject drugs Practical guide for service providers on gender-responsive HIV services

HIV has long been a high-level health threat among people who inject drugs (PWID). The joint UNODC/ WHO/UNAIDS/World Bank estimate for the number of PWID worldwide for 2013 is 12.19 million (range: 8.48–21.46 million).1 About 1.65 million of those individuals are estimated to be living with HIV, a figure that corresponds to 13.5 per cent of the world’s PWID being HIV-positive. That HIV prevalence level is several times greater than among the global general population and clearly indicates that the epidemic disproportionately affects PWID wherever they live.