By NOEL MURPHY
CLEAN-syringe programs need to target muscle-building steroid users, a Geelong public health expert has warned.
Deakin University lecturer Matthew Dunn said health services providing needles and syringes must act on the rise in performance and image-enhancing drugs (PIEDs).
Mr Dunn said PIEDs were taken for reasons deemed superficial, so they were consequently considered unworthy of funding for injecting programs.
“But studies have also shown that a proportion of PIED users report injecting other substances, such as methamphetamine,” he wrote on The Conversation website.
“And injecting substances other than PIEDs among this group has been associated with being hepatitis C and/or HIV positive.
“We need to consider how we reach this specific group.”
Mr Dunn said seven per cent of steroid users accessed needle and syringe programs last year, up from five per cent on 2011 and between just one to two per cent in 1995 and 2010.
Steroids were the most widely used int the PIED category, which also included growth and reproductive hormones, stimulants and supplements such as creatine for muscle mass.
Little was known about PIED users despite their dramatic rise in numbers, Mr Dunn said.
“In the early days, PIED use was thought to be limited to body builders and professional athletes. This no longer appears to be the case: some use to enhance their physical appearance, such as increased muscle size and muscle mass; some use to enhance their sporting performance; and some use for work-related reasons, such as those in physically demanding jobs.”
