Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major global health issue. Injecting drug users (IDUs) are an important group at risk of HCV infection. Therefore, this study was undertaken to determine the related high-risk behavioral factors and the effectiveness of addiction treatment centers in preventing the transmission of HCV among IDUs referring to governmental methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) centers in Southeast Iran. METHODS: This analytical study was conducted as a pre- and post-intervention assessment without a control group in first 6 months of 2022. 313 IDUs receiving methadone from five governmental MMT centers in Kerman were interviewed in the form of a census. Effectiveness was measured using mathematical formulas and patterns based on high-risk injecting behaviors. RESULTS: Of the 313 participants, 299 (95.84%) were men, the mean age ± SD was 41.06 ± 8.73 years and HCV prevalence was 113 (36.1%). The results showed that MMT centers avoided 23.55 new cases of HCV per 100 people. The studied IDUs reported minor rate of risky injecting and sexual behavior after participation in MMT program. The communal incidence of HCV per 100 IDUs due to shared injection and unsafe sexual connection with MMT program were 13.89 (95% CI: 5.43-19.63), 0.0003 (0.0002-0.0007) and without it 37.44 (24.34-46.78) and 0.0002 (0.0001-0.0004) respectively. CONCLUSION: The MMT program is an effective intervention to prevent HCV infection, a comparison of its effectiveness with other interventions is needed.