[Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/opioid-drugs-39-people-who-inject-opioi...
As one of the person who annually compiles the global data on PWID, HIV and hepatitis C among PWID.
The simple answer to your question [Do we know why there are so many people who inject drugs in these countries?] is the US, China and Russia are countries with high population. If you look at the prevalence of people who inject drugs, its 1.4 per cent of the population in US, 0.2 per cent of the population in China, and 1.3 percent for Russia.
In US and Russia, the prevalence of non-medical opioid use is also very high which kind of reflects in the high prevalence of PWID in the two countries.
I will see to what extent I can answer some of your other questions as well.
Regards
Kamran
Kamran Niaz
Epidemiologist
Research and Knowledge Production Section
Research and Trend Analysis Branch
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
P O Box 500, 1400 Vienna
Tel: +43 1 26060 5624
Mobile: +43 699 1459 5624
World Drug Report 2025 <https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/world-drug-report-2025....