%0 Journal Article
%T Substance Abuse Treatment, HIV/AIDS, and the Continuum of Response for People Who Inject Drugs
%A Thomas F. Kresina
%A Robert Lubran
%A H. Westley Clark
%A Laura W. Cheever
%J Advances in Preventive Medicine
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/541489
%X The continuum of response (CoR) to HIV/AIDS is a framework for implementation of HIV prevention, care, and treatment programs based on a national strategic plan for HIV/AIDS services. The CoR for people who inject drugs (PWID) is an important extension of the developed CoR to HIV/AIDS. The CoR-PWID employs stakeholders who together plan, develop, pilot, and provide a full range of services that address the various prevention, care/support, and treatment needs of people, families, and communities infected or affected by HIV/AIDS and injection drug use. The CoR-PWID comprises a broad range of services that include but are not limited to the World Health Organization priority interventions for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care in the health sector and the package of essential interventions for the prevention, treatment, and care of HIV for people who inject drugs. Implementation of these well-defined, essential prevention, care/support, and treatment services, in addition to locally defined needed services, in a coordinated fashion is important to clients, their families, and communities. The CoR-PWID is, therefore, a necessary framework essential for service development for countries that address HIV/AIDS in populations of PWID. 1. The CoR to HIV/AIDS HIV/AIDS is a complex disease that results in complex needs from patients infected with the virus, their partners, extended family members, and communities [1]. The concept of a continuum of care to provide for the needs of patients, family members, and communities affected by HIV/AIDS was developed early in the epidemic [1]. A comprehensive HIV/AIDS care continuum framework was proposed and consisted of patient discharge planning and referrals among health facilities treating patients with HIV/AIDS and services that included voluntary counseling and testing, community-based services, blood transfusion services, self-help groups, and home care. The care continuum for HIV/AIDS was expanded to encompass the needs of care providers including home care providers [2]. The expansion proposed an international care agenda that included policy strategies that focused on the caregiver where a range of public, private, and no-governmental sectors would come together with the common purpose of insuring that households affected by HIV/AIDS are protected and supported to ensure survival. The CoR to HIV/AIDS builds on these previous models by developing a framework that strengthens national leadership while delivering improved broader health outcomes [3]. This new paradigm supports country ownership and enhances a
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/apm/2012/541489/