Author/Editor		Nolimal, Dušan; Belec, Miran
Title		Zdravstveno varstvo uporabnikov nedovoljenih drog
Translated title		Health care of illegal drug users
Type		članek
Source		Zdrav Vars
Vol. and No.		Letnik 40, št. Suppl 1
Publication year		2001
Volume		str. 381-8
Language		slo
Abstract		Data on health care of illegal drug users are gathered using legally prescribed records on drug-abuse treatment. Data on health care of drug users entering centres for the prevention and treatment of drug dependency represent the basis for planning activities of these centres. The planners and providers of health care use these data to identify the types of patients opting for specific activities, and to formulate incentives for the treatment of individual sub-groups. Furthermore, the data indirectly show the changing patterns of the more problematic drug use among the population. It is therefore necessary to differentiate between data on the users who seek drug-abuse treatment for the first time and those who have already undergone treatment. The ratio between first and repeat treatments is an accurate indicator of drug use incidence. The collected data are also a useful basis for the research into the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of drugabuse treatment. Because of inadequate information on persons seeking drug-abuse treatment and insufficient contextual information, the data should be interpreted with utmost caution. Nevertheless, it can concluded that in 2000 drug users most commonly sought treatment because of heroin and, to a considerably lesser extent, because of other drugs. Intravenous drug use that prevails among the treated drug users is associated with a high risk of local infections, necrosis, breakdown of the circulatory system and generalised septicaemia, overdose and many potentially fatal infectious diseases, such as HIV and hepatitis 8 and C infection. The connection between intravenous drug use and (imminent) epidemics of infectious diseases among users urges us to reconsider the present drug abuse control policies. Even if the risks associated with illegal drug use are not entirely preventable, proper harm-reduction strategies can reduce them considerably.
Summary		Podatke o zdravstvenem varstvu uporabnikov nedovoljenih drog zbiramo na podlagi zakonsko predpisane evidence obravnave uživalca drog. Podatki o zdravstvenem varstvu uporabnikov nedovoljenih drog, ki iščejo pomoč v centrih za preprečevanje in zdravljenje odvisnosti od nedovoljenih drog, so neposredno merilo za načrtovanje dela teh centrov. Načrtovalci in izvajalci zdravstvenega varstva na podlagi teh podatkov ugotovijo, kateri bolniki se odločajo za posamezne dejavnosti, ter pripravijo temelje, na katerih se lahko ovrednoti poskuse za pritegnitev posameznih podskupin k zdravljenju. Podatki posredno kažejo tudi na spreminjajoče se vzorce bolj problematične uporabe drog med prebivalstvom. Zato je potrebno razlikovati podatke o uporabnikih, ki se za zdravljenje odločajo prvič, od tistih, ki so se že zdravili. Razmerje med prvim zdravljenjem in ponovnim zdravljenjem je dober kazalec incidence. Zbrani podatki lahko koristijo tudi vsem, ki raziskujejo učinkovitost zdravljenja odvisnosti od nedovoljenih drog in okoliščine, ali se zdravljenje gmotno splača. (Izvleček skrajšan pri 2000 znakih)
Descriptors		STREET DRUGS SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT CENTERS SUBSTANCE ABUSE, INTRAVENOUS AGE FACTORS SLOVENIA