This guidance in brief complements the joint guidance, ‘Prevention and control of infectious diseases among people who inject drugs - 2023 update’.

Hepatitis B and C, HIV, and tuberculosis (TB) continue to circulate and cause substantial morbidity and mortality in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) and countries in the eastern European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) area. These diseases are the focus of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) 3.3, which is to ‘end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases’ by 2030. Countries will not achieve this SDG target unless these diseases are addressed in all populations, including among people who inject drugs. This is because injecting drug use remains an important risk factor for acquiring blood-borne infectious diseases (e.g. hepatitis B and C, HIV) and people who inject drugs are at high risk for other infectious diseases (e.g. sexually transmitted infections (STIs), TB) in the EU/EEA and ENP area.

Prevention and control of infectious diseases among people who inject drugs is important because these diseases reduce the quality of life and life expectancy of any individual. Furthermore, there is a risk of onward transmission to others, including those who do not inject drugs. Ultimately, they can lead to both indirect and direct societal costs through, for example, lost productivity, high treatment, and care costs.