Is an injection the only answer?

Is an injection the only answer?

In some countries the risk of HIV infection through medical injection can be limited by keeping the number of injections received to a minimum. Studies in sub-Saharan Africa indicate that individuals who receive 5 or more medical injections are 2.3 times more at risk of being infected with HIV than those who do not.¹¹⁵ In Uganda, a correlation between HIV prevalence and having more than 5 medical injections was found. Of those who received 5 or more injections 10.8 percent of men and 11.4 percent of women were infected with HIV, whereas 4.0 percent of men and 6.3 percent of women, of those who had not received an injection, were infected with HIV.¹¹⁶

WHO estimates that up to 70 percent of injections in some countries, were 'medically unnecessary'.^{117 118} For example, in some countries injections are given unnecessarily to administer antibiotics or vitamins.^{119 120} Oral medication is an alternative to injections and this treatment should be used wherever possible. To reinforce efforts to minimize the use of injections and therefore reduce the HIV risk in healthcare settings, patients in low and middle-income countries, where injection safety is often low and HIV prevalence high, need to question whether they really need the injections.