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We have developed a multidisciplinary global consortium of researchers who can provide independent high-quality evidence regarding the scale of illicit drug use, harms, access to services at country, regional and global levels, and build capacity for better data in these areas.

The work by this group includes a range of reviews and synthesis of evidence, including:

Systematic review of country-level, regional and global estimates of prevalence of injecting drug use; sociodemographic and risk characteristics of people who inject drugs; and HIV, HCV and HBV prevalence amongst people who inject drugs

• To access the journal article please visit .
• Interactive dashboards containing data from this study are available on the .

Systematic review of country-level, regional and global estimates of coverage of needle-syringe programme, opioid substitution therapy, HIV testing, anti-retroviral therapy, and condom programmes for people who inject drugs.

• To access the journal article please visit .
• Interactive dashboards containing data from this study are available on the .

Project Collaborators External

• Dr Janni Leung University of Queensland
• A/Prof Jason Grebely Kirby Institute
• Prof Matt Hickman University of Bristol
• Prof Peter Vickerman University of Bristol
• Prof John Strang King's College London
• Prof Michael Lynskey King's College London
• Prof John Marsden King's College London
• Dr Lindsey Hines King's College London
• Mr Jack Stone University of Bristol
• Mr Adam Trickey University of Bristol
• Mr Evan Cunningham Kirby institute
• Prof Wayne Hall University of Queensland
• Mr Konstantin Dumchev Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy
• Mr Paul Griffiths EMCDDA
• Prof Jurgen Rehm CAMH

Project Supporters

Open Society Foundations; The Global Fund; WHO; UNAIDS; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; Australian National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney

Researchers from the Consortium have been involved in initiatives that have had major impacts at a global, regional and national level. This includes key researchers involved with the Global Burden of Disease project, the WHO’s World Mental Health Survey. This work has informed global, regional and country-level policies.

In September 2015 the UN General Assembly adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These included multiple targets relevant to people who use illicit drugs. The Agenda emphasizes the need for transparent, critical monitoring of progress, creating a need for independent scientific advice.

This Consortium will function to fill this gap, drawing together researchers who have established and collaborated on large-scale global health initiatives to provide independent scientific advice for improved epidemiological data, advances in modelling estimates, and work on indicators for measuring SDG progress.

Our aim is to maximise independent high-quality evidence regarding the scale of illicit drug use, harms, access to services at country, regional and global levels, and build capacity for better data in these areas.

Three major functions:

1. Advice regarding data and methodological developments related to estimates of alcohol and drug use and intervention and treatment coverage
2. Work to improve estimates of drug-attributable burden
3. Develop links with leading research institutions in other countries, with a focus on academic units in less resourced countries to improve data, and generation of new data

Design and Method

Two global reviews are currently in progress, comprising:

• Systematic review of country-level, regional and global estimates of prevalence of injecting drug use among people aged 15-64 years; sociodemographic and risk characteristics of people who inject drugs; and HIV and viral prevalence amongst people who inject drugs.
• Systematic review of country-level, regional and global estimates of coverage of needle-syringe programme, opioid substitution therapy, HIV testing, anti-retroviral therapy, and condom programmes for people who inject drugs.

Please email any queries regarding these projects, or any updated city/sub-national/country level estimates of the above to global.reviews@unsw.edu.au

Related Links

Findings

Degenhardt, L., Peacock, A., Colledge, S., Leung, J., Grebely, J., Vickerman, P., Stone, J., Cunningham, E., Trickey, A., Dumchev, K., Lynskey, M., Griffiths, P., Mattick, R., Hickman, M., & Larney, S., (2017). Global prevalence of injecting drug use and sociodemographic characteristics and prevalence of HIV, HBV, and HCV in people who inject drugs: a multistage systematic review. The Lancet Global Health, 5: e1192–1207.

Larney, S., Peacock, A., Leung, J., Colledge, S., Grebely, J., Hickman, M., Vickerman, P., Dumchev, K., Griffiths, P., Hines, L., Cunningham, E., Mattick, R., Marsden, J., Lynskey, M., Strang, J., & Degenhardt, L., (2017). Systematic review of global, regional, and country-level coverage of interventions to prevent and manage HIV and hepatitis C among people who inject drugs. The Lancet Global Health, 5, e1208-1221.

Hickman, M., Larney, S., Peacock, A., Jones, H., Grebely, J., & Degenhardt, L. (2018). Competing global statistics on prevalence of injecting drug use – why does it matter and what can be done? (invited editorial) Addiction, 113, 1768-1774.

Peacock, A., Leung, J., Larney, S., Hall, W., Farrell, M., West, R., Marsden, J., Mackay, J., Gowing, L., Griffiths, P., Toufiq, J., Rehm, J., & Hickman, M., Degenhardt, L., (2018). A global summary of reporting systems for alcohol, drugs and tobacco: 2017 update. Addiction, 113(10), 1905-1926.

Grebely, J., Larney, S., Colledge, S., Peacock, A., Leung, J., Hickman, M., Vickerman, P., Stone, J., Trickey, A., Lynskey, M., Rahzavi, H., Blach, S., Mattick, R., Farrell, M., Dore, G., & Degenhardt, L. (2018). Global, regional, and country-level estimates of viraemic hepatitis C virus infection among recent people who inject drugs: A systematic review. Addiction, 114(1), 150-166.

Bao, Y-P., Peacock, A., Larney, S., Colledge, S., Grebely, J., Hickman, M., Degenhardt, L., & Leung, J. (2019). Prevalence of HIV, HCV and HBV infection and sociodemographic characteristics of people who inject drugs in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Drug Policy, 70, 87-93.

Leung, J., Colledge, S., Degenhardt, L. Peacock, A., Grebely, J., Hickman, M., & Larney, S., (2019). A global meta-analysis of the prevalence of HIV, hepatitis C virus, and hepatitis B virus among people who inject drugs: Do gender-based differences vary by country-level indicators? Journal of Infectious Diseases, 220(1), 78-90.

Trickey, A., Fraser, H., Lim, A., Walker, J., Peacock, A., Colledge, S., Leung, J., Grebely, J., Larney, S., Degenhardt, L., Hickman, M., May, M., & Vickerman, P. (2019). The contribution of injecting drug use as a risk factor for Hepatitis C virus transmission globally, regionally, and at country level: a modelling study. The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 4(6), 435-444. 

Trickey, A., Fraser, H., Lim, A., Walker, J., Peacock, A., Colledge, S., Leung, J., Grebely, J., Larney, S., Degenhardt, L., Hickman, M., May, M., & Vickerman, P. (2019). Modelling the potential prevention benefits of a treat-all hepatitis C treatment strategy at global, regional and country levels: A modelling study. Journal of Viral Hepatitis, 26, 1388-1403.

Colledge, S., Leung, J., Peacock, A., Larney, S., Cunningham, E., Stone, J., Trickey, A., Vickerman, P., Grebely, J., Hickman, M., & Degenhardt, L. (2019). The prevalence of non-fatal overdose among people who inject drugs: a multi-stage systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Drug Policy.

Larney, S., Tran, L.T., Leung, J., Santo Jr, T., Santomauro, D., Hickman, M., Peacock, A., Stockings, E., & Degenhardt, L. (2020). All-cause and cause-specific mortality in people using extra-medical opioids: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry, 77(5), 1-10. 

Colledge, S., Leung, J., Peacock, A., Larney, S., Grebely, J., Hickman, M., & Degenhardt, L. (2020). The prevalence of depression, suicide and self-harm among people who inject drugs: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 207, 107793.

Hines, L., Trickey, A., Leung, J., Larney, S., Peacock, A., Degenhardt, L. Colledge, S., Hickman, M., Grebely, J., Cunningham, E., Stone, J., Dumchev, K., Griffiths, P., Vickerman, P., Mattick, R. & Lynskey, M., (2020). Associations between national development indicators and the age profile of people who inject drugs: results from a global systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Public Health, 8(1), e76-e91.

Jacka, B., Larney, S., Degenhardt, L., Janjua, N., Hoj, S., Krajden, M., Grebely, J., & Bruneau, J. (2020). Prevalence of injecting drug use and coverage of interventions to prevent HIV and hepatitis C virus infection among people who inject drugs in Canada. American Journal of Public Health, 110, 45-50.

Colledge, S., Peacock, A., Larney, S., Grebely, J., Leung, J., Hickman, M., Vickerman, P., Stone, J., Trickey, A., Cunningham, E. & Degenhardt, L. (2020). Frequency of injecting among people who inject drugs: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Drug Policy

Larney, S., Leung, J., Colledge, S., Peacock, A., Hickman, H., Grebely, J., Vickerman, P., & Degenhardt, L. (2020). Global systematic review and ecological analysis of HIV in people who inject drugs: National population sizes and factors associated with HIV prevalence. International Journal of Drug Policy

Colledge, S., Leung, J., Grebely, J., Degenhardt, L. Peacock, A., Stone, J., Trickey, A., Hickman, H., Vickerman, P., & Larney, S., (2020). Socio-demographic and ecological factors associated with anti-HCV prevalence in people who inject drugs. Drug and Alcohol Dependence

Tran, L.T., Peacock, A., Colledge, S., Grebely, J., Memedovic, S., Leung, J., Larney, S., Stone, J., Trickey, A., Vickerman, P., Hickman, H., & Degenhardt, L. (2020). Injecting risk behaviours among people who inject drugs: A global multi-stage systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Drug Policy

Cepeda, J., Vickerman, P., Bruneau, J., Zang, G., Borquez, A., Farrell, M., Degenhardt, L. & Martin, N. (2020). Estimating the contribution of stimulant injection to HIV and HCV epidemics among people who inject drugs: a modeling analysis. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108135 

Borquez, A., Rich, K., Farrell, M., Degenhardt, L., McKetin, R., Tran, L., Cepeda, J., Konda, K., Cáceres, C.F., Silva-Santisteban, A., Altice, F., & Martin, N. (in press). Integrating pre-exposure prophylaxis and harm reduction among men who have sex with men and transgender women to address intersecting harms associated with stimulant use: a modelling study. Journal of the International AIDS Society.

Peacock, A., Tran, L.T., Larney, S., Stockings, E., Santo, T., Santomauro, D., Jones, H., & Degenhardt, L. (2020). All-cause and cause-specific mortality among people with regular or problematic cocaine use: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Addiction.

Jin, H., Marshall, B., Degenhardt, L., Strang, J., Hickman, M., Fiellin, D., Ali, R., Bruneau, J., & Larney, S., (2020). Opioid agonist therapy in clinical practice globally: A systematic review of criteria for treatment entry, methadone and buprenorphine doses, access to unsupervised doses, and urine drug screening practices. Addiction, 115(12), 2243-2254.

Moitra, M., Santomauro, D., Degenhardt, L., Collins, P., Whiteford, H., Vos, T., & Ferrari, A. (2021). Estimating the risk of suicide attributed to mental disorders: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis. Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Santo Jr., T., Clark, B., Hickman, M., Grebely, J., Campbell, G., Sordo, L., Chen, A., Tran, L.T., Bharat, C., Padmanthan, P., Cousins, G., Dupouy, J., Kelty, E., Muga, R., Nosyk, B., Min, J., Pavarin, R., Farrell, M., & Degenhardt, L. (2021). Association of Opioid Agonist Treatment With All-Cause Mortality and Specific Causes of Death Among People With Opioid Dependence: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry, 78(9), 979-993.

Cunningham, E., Wheeler, A., Hajarizadeh, B., French, C., Riche, R., Marshall, A., Fontaine, G., Conway, A., Valencia, B., Bajis, S., Presseau, J., Ward, J., Degenhardt, L., Dore, G., Hickman, M., Vickerman, P., & Grebely, J. (2022). Interventions to enhance testing and linkage to treatment for hepatitis C infection for people who inject drugs: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Drug Policy

Degenhardt, L., Webb, P., Colledge-Frisby, S., Ireland, J., Wheeler, A., Ottaviano, S., Willing, A., Kairouz, A. Cunningham, E., Hajarizadeh, B., Leung, J., Tran, L. Price, O., Peacock, A., Vickerman, P., Farrell, M., Dore, G., Hickman, M., Grebely, J. (2023). The epidemiology of injecting drug use, prevalence of injecting related harm, and exposure to behavioural and environmental risks among people who inject drugs: A systematic review. The Lancet Global Health, 11(5), e659-672.

Colledge-Frisby, S., Ottaviano, S., Webb, P., Wheeler, A., Grebely, J., Cunningham, E., Hajarizadeh, B., Leung, J., Peacock, A., Vickerman, P., Farrell, M., Dore, G., Hickman, M., & Degenhardt, L. (2023). The global coverage of interventions to prevent and manage drug-related harms among people who inject drugs: A multi-stage systematic review of the evidence. The Lancet Global Health, 11(5), e673-e683.

Degenhardt, L., Clark, B., Macpherson, G., Leppan, O., Nielsen, S., Zahra, E., Larance, B., Kimber, J., Martino-Burke, D., Hickman, M., & Farrell, M., (2023). Evidence for the effectiveness of buprenorphine compared to methadone: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised and observational studies. The Lancet Psychiatry, 10(6), 386-402.

Hajarizadeh, B., Kairouz, A., Cunningham, E., Ottaviano, S., willing, A., Ireland, J., Webb, P., Colledge-Frisby, S., Wheeler, A., Leung, J., Tran, L., Price, O., Peacock, A., Vickerman, P., Farrell, M., Dore, G., Hickman, M., Degenhardt, L. & Grebely, J., (2023). Global, regional, and country-level coverage of testing and treatment for HIV and hepatitis C infection among people who inject drugs: a systematic review. The Lancet Global Health.

Marshall, A.D., Willing, A., Kairouz, A., Cunningham, E.B., Wheeler, A., O’Brien, N., Perera, V., Ward, J., Hiebert, L., Degenhardt, L., Hajarizadeh, B., Colledge, S., Hickman, M., Jawad, D., Lazarus, J., Matthews, G.V., Luhmann, N., Scheibe, A., Vickerman, P., Dore, G.J., Grebely, J. on behalf of the Global HCV and HIV Treatment Restrictions Group (2024). Direct-acting antiviral therapies for hepatitis C infection: global registration, reimbursement, and restrictions. The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Stevens, O., Sabin, K., Arias Garcia, S., Anderson, R., Willis, K., Abdul-Quader, A., McIntyre, A., Fearon, E., Grard, E., Stewart-Brown, A., Cowan, F., Degenhardt, L., Zhou, J., Hakim, A., Rucinski, K., Sathane, I., Boothe, M., Atuhuire, L., Nyasulu, P., Platt, L., Rice, B., Hladik, W., Baral, S., Mahy, M., Eaton, J. (2024). Key population size, HIV prevalence, and ART coverage in sub-Saharan Africa: systematic collation and synthesis of surveillance data. The Lancet Global Health.

MacDonald, C., Macpherson, G., Leppan, O., Tran, L.T., Jenkins, R., Hajarizadeh, B., Cunningham, E., Grebely, J., Altice, R., Farrell, M., & Degenhardt, L., (2024). Interventions in prison and post-release to reduce harms among people who use drugs: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Public Health.

Artenie, A., Looker, K., Stone, J., Trickey, A., Lim, A., Fraser. H., Degenhardt, L., Dore, G., Grebely, J., Cunningham, E., Hajarizadeh, B., Low-Beer, D., Luhmann, N., Webb, P., Hickman, M. & Vickerman, P (2025). Global, regional, and national estimates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) incidence among people who inject drugs and of the number of new HCV infections attributed to injecting drug use: A multi-stage analysis. The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Wheeler, A., Masters, J., Pradhan, A., Roth, J., Degenhardt, L., Dore, G., Mathews, G., Cunningham, E., Peacock, A., Colledge, S., Grebely, J., Hajarizadeh, B., & Martinello, M., (2025). Prevalence of injection-related injuries and diseases among people who inject drugs: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. doi:10.1093/ofid/ofaf108

Price, O., Webb, P., Grebely, J., Peacock, A., Medland, N., Read, P., Cooke, E., Hickman, M., Vickerman, P., & Degenhardt, L. (2025). Prevalence of sexually transmitted infections among people who inject drugs: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Drug and Alcohol Dependence

Degenhardt, L., Hickman, M., Altice, R., Grebely, J., Taylor, S., Lynch, M., Kamenjas, A., Tran, L., Webb, P., Marsden, J., Price, O., MacDonald, C., Alves da Costa, F., Berk, J., Busse, A., Cunningham, E., Daniels, C., Hajarizadeh, B., Montanari, L., Royuela, L., Sabin, K., Stone, J., Verster, A., Vickerman, P., Farrell, P., & Santo Jr., T. (2026). The global epidemiology of infectious disease and injecting drug use among people who are incarcerated: A multistage systematic review. International Journal of Drug Policy

Santo, T., Hickman, M., Altice, R., Grebely, J., Taylor, S., Lynch, M., Kamenjas, A., Marsden, J., Tran, L., Webb, P., Price, O., MacDonald, C., Montanari, L., Royuela, L., Busse, A., Stone, J., Alves da Costa, F., Berk, J., Daniels, C., Cunningham, E., Vickerman, P., Hajarizadeh, B., Sabin, K., Verster, A., Farrell, P., & Degenhardt, L. (2026). Global coverage of interventions for reduction of injecting drug use-related harm, HIV, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis in prisons and other carceral settings. International Journal of Drug Policy