Need for those with HIV to stop smoking

ST. LOUIS, June 4 (UPI) -- A U.S. researcher says there is a need for cessation programs to help smokers who have human immunodeficiency virus.

Jenine Harris of the Saint Louis University School of Public Health in St. Louis says the rate of smoking among people with HIV, the precursor of AIDS, is as much two or three times that of the general population.

Harris is calling for researchers to connect the dots between the health problems associated with HIV and smoking.

The researcher examined the research conducted on smoking and HIV from 1980 to 2008.

The researchers examined 237 articles on smoking and HIV, but fewer than 2 percent of the studies examined the effectiveness of interventions aimed at preventing or reducing smoking among those with HIV or AIDS.

"The delay between discovery of smoking-related health outcomes in people living with HIV/AIDS and the delivery of interventions to reduce smoking among this population has serious consequences," Harris said in a statement.

The findings are published in American Journal of Public Health.