While calls for more research continue, important discoveries made possible by NIDA and others have positioned the field to move forward in developing effective prevention and treatment approaches. Three key findings inform our approach, linking the interactions of drug abuse and HIV/AIDS in ways that extend far beyond injection drug use.

First, drug abuse impairs judgment and good decisionmaking, leaving people more prone to engage in HIV risk behaviors, including risky sexual behavior and nonadherence to HIV treatment.

Second, drug abuse adversely affects health and may exacerbate disease progression.

Third, and most important, because of these linkages, we must recognize that drug abuse treatment is HIV prevention.