People with Intravenous drugs (PWID) represent a population for which the prevalence of viral hepatitis is not well-documented in Tanzania, unlike the general population, which has seen a statistically significant decrease in prevalence due to various intervention measures. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of and factors associated with Hepatitis B and C among intravenous drug users in the Moshi municipal council. We conducted a cross-sectional quantitative study between September 2022 and May 2023, recruiting 214 PWIDs using the Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS) technique. A questionnaire was administered to gather socio-demographic information, and blood samples were collected from participants to test for the presence of the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Data were cleaned and analyzed using Stata version 14.1 (Stata Corp LP® [Stata Corp. 2015]). The majority of the participants (38.8%) were between the ages of 25 and 30, 84.1% were male, and 78.0% were married or cohabiting. The overall prevalence of HBV and HCV among PWID was 17.29% and 10.75%, respectively. Approximately 3% tested positive for co-infection of Hepatitis B and C, while more than 25.23% were seropositive for either viral hepatitis infection. Individuals who were single or divorced were found to be 9 times more likely to have hepatitis C, while those with secondary education or higher were 71% less likely to have HCV. There was no significant association between the sex and age of the participants. In conclusion, 25.2% of PWID were seropositive for either viral hepatitis infection, and 17.3% had HBV infection. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions among PWID to accelerate progress toward the elimination of hepatitis infections, similar to efforts directed at the general population in Tanzania.
Impact Factor
2022: 6.012
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