of the decrease to prevention efforts. Specifically, the CDC noted that:
Prior to the introduction of combination therapies for HIV, AIDS incidence was increasing at a rate of less than 5 percent each year. Partly as a result of prevention efforts targeting those at highest risk, the epidemic had slowed considerably from the early years in the epidemic, when increases were 65 percent to 95 percent each year. In 1996, estimated AIDS incidence dropped for the first time, declining 6 percent. (p. 1)
The CDC (1998) further notes that while prevention efforts have helped slow the epidemic from a period of rapid growth to an overall stabilization, this success rate is not the same in all communities. One community for which prevention efforts are said to be most needed is that of IV drug users. Indeed, the CDC (1998) informs that drug use is fueling the spread of the epidemic in that not only are many people infected via their IV drug use paraphanaila such as needles, but also many of those infected through sex are infected because they had sex with IV drug users.
In formulating conclusions about HIV infection and prevention, the CDC (1998) calls for continuing research into IV drug user populations, their risk for HIV infection, and prevention programs that can reduce their level of risk. In terms of reducing IV drug users' level of risk through prevention efforts, it can be noted that substantial research has shown that one of the primary factors placing people at risk for contracting the HIV virus has been their general cognitions (attitudes, beliefs, opinions) toward safe and unsafe sex practices (Igra, 1997). Thus, it seems reasonable to suggest that part of the effort to learn more about IV drug users, their risk of HIV infection and the efficacy of prevention efforts with this group, might be to examine for the effects of prevention efforts on their attitudes toward safe and unsafe sex practices and compare these to ot...