ABSTRACT
With respect to protection from sexual transmission of HIV infection, the task remains problematic. These amphetamine injecting women did not like the thought of using condoms with their primary partners. The association between condoms and HIV is strong among drug injectors and their use therefore is laden with implications. They are acceptable for use with casual or new partners, but not for more long-lasting relationships. Because the women tend to have injecting partners with whom they frequently share injecting equipment, the use of condoms is irrelevant. No-one has arrived at a solution to this problem. This rationale for not using a condom means that the problem of HIV transmission by sharing or sex cannot be separated. The women were well aware of the danger of undisclosed acts by partners with others. It was preferable to close the mind to them unless the evidence became pressing. The source of the impasse lay in the fear of losing a valuable relationship or the support it offered. There will be little further progress in reducing risk behaviour in close relationships until a strategy is devised that circumvents the destructiveness that could occur following open acknowledgement of the need for self-protection.
