"Prevention of Nosocomial HIV Infection in the Soviet Union--An" International Responsibility

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1990. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"Prevention of Nosocomial HIV Infection in the Soviet Union--An" International Responsibility

New England Journal of Medicine (12/27/90) Vol 323, No. 26, P. 1844
Gellert, George

Abstract: The international community must not wait for political and economic reform in the Soviet Union to decrease the risk of nosocomial HIV transmission, writes George Gellert of the Harvard Institute for International Development. Official denial of health-care problems carrying a negative stigma, the fact that homosexuality and IV drug use are illegal and not recognized, strict quarantine laws for HIV-infected persons, and the lack of surveillance and prevention measures directed at the nonexistent" high-risk populations make the Soviet Union ripe for the spread of HIV. An even greater potential threat, however, comes from reuse of inadequately sterilized hypodermic syringes in hospitals. Disposable syringes are in short supply and the country will not be able to meet even the minimum demand for 1992. Hepatitis B infections, transmitted nosocomially, have skyrocketed, portending a crisis of HIV infections. The international community must act to set up manufacturing of single-use syringes and supply enough to meet the interim demand, Gellert concludes.

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