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Needle-syringe programs for reducing blood-borne diseases among drug users in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review protocol.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this review is to identify, explore, and map the literature on the characteristics and implementation modalities of needle and syringe programs for reducing blood-borne diseases among injection drug users in sub-Saharan Africa compared with the recommended standards by the World Health Organization and AIDS Projects Management Group.


INTRODUCTION
The sub-Saharan region of Africa bears a disproportionate burden of infectious diseases and HIV/AIDS. Needle and syringe programs have been shown to be effective in preventing transmission of infections among injection drug users by providing them with sterile injection equipment. The programs may also serve as avenues for addressing other issues that affect injection drug users.


INCLUSION CRITERIA
This review will consider published and unpublished studies on needle and syringe programs as a method of preventing blood-borne infections among injection drug users in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, systematic reviews and text and opinion papers will be considered for inclusion in the review.


METHODS
The electronic databases to be searched include MEDLINE, African Journals Online (AJOL), CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, Embase, and TRoPHI. We will search for studies in English with no date limit as well as sources of unpublished studies and gray literature (conference abstracts, theses, etc). Data extraction will be done by two independent reviewers guided by an extraction tool developed by the reviewers. Key information, such as author, reference, and findings relevant to the review questions will be obtained. The results will be presented as graphs, figures, and tables accompanied by a narrative summary.