FRIENDS AND LOVERS - NEEDLE SHARING IN YOUNG-PEOPLE IN WESTERN-AUSTRALIA

The Youth AIDS and Drugs (YAD) Study is a study of young people who in ject drugs, and their risk of the transmission of HIV through needle s haring and/or unsafe sex. One hundred and five people, aged less than 21, 75% of whom were current or recent injectors, undertook in-depth i nterviews which were tape recorded, transcribed and analysed qualitati vely. This paper focuses on the ways in which the young people in the group attempted to manage the risk of needle sharing. Needle sharing i n the study group was not common behaviour. Almost all injectors emplo yed one of four major Risk Management Strategies some of which include d the possibility of sharing unbleached needles with a friend or a lov er These strategies were strongly related to beliefs that such friends and lovers were well enough known by the individual for there to be v ery little risk. The implications of these findings for health promoti on with young people who inject drugs in Perth, a city of low IDU sero prevalence, are outlined.