American Journal of Public Health: “HIV/AIDS in Puerto Rican People Who Inject Drugs: Policy Considerations”

Associate Professor Luz M. López, along with Lisa de Saxe Zerden (SSW ’93), Philippe Bourgois, Helena Hansen, Roberto Abadie, Kirk Dombrowski, and Ric Curtis, published a letter in the January 2015 edition of the American Journal of Public Health. The letter was written in support of Deren et al.’s work, highlighted in Addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic among Puerto Rican people who inject drugs: the need for a multiregion approach. “The purpose [of the letter is] to bring more attention to the issues of Puerto Rican substance users and multi-region approaches,” López said.

We commend the important work of Deren et al. that underscores the high rates of HIV among Puerto Rican people who inject drugs (PRPWID) and highlights the health, social, and service disparities between Puerto Rico and the Northeast US region. As articulated in their article, HIV/AIDS risk and substance use are not individual problems with individual consequences—the epidemic impacts community and culture, across borders and boundaries.

Click here to read the full letter. To learn more about López and her work, view her online profile here.