Boost sought in number of syringe exchanges

Syringe-vending machines, involving pharmacies in distributing syringes and providing mobile needle exchanges are among the recommendations of a report which calls for an urgent increase in the number of syringe exchanges in Dublin.

The report, Making Contact: An Evaluation of a Needle Ex- change, was published by the Merchant's Quay Project in Dublin yesterday. It is a study of the 1,337 clients attending its health promotion unit, the largest needle exchange centre in the State, in the 18 months from May 1997 to October 1998.

In particular, it focuses on the dangers of heroin addicts sharing needles and injecting equipment, in the transmission of blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis and HIV. The report's main policy recommendation is that "the reduction of drug related harm" should be the national drug policy's primary objective.

Abstinence was not an immediate option for over 95 per cent of drug addicts, said Dr Joe Barry, public health specialist with the Eastern Health Board.

"Of these, about 4,000 of Dublin's 12,000 to 14,000 addicts are on methadone programmes. That's about one-third. So for two-thirds of addicts the best means of harm reduction is to ensure they do not share needles or injecting equipment."

The report found that of first-time clients, 29 per cent said they had shared injecting equipment in the previous four weeks. More than half of these had borrowed used equipment from somebody else. One-third were both lending and borrowing equipment.

One of the report's authors, Ms Gemma Cox, said homeless clients were significantly more likely than their housed counterparts to borrow used equipment.

"Some 23 per cent of housed clients shared equipment as compared with 31 per cent of homeless clients," she said.

About 76 per cent of the unit's clients described themselves as "sexually active". While 39 per cent said they had non-drug-using partners, just 35 per cent said they used condoms regularly.

Over the 18 months, among those attending the Merchant's Quay needle exchange, there was a 44 per cent increase in numbers "employing cleaning practices"; a 71 per cent decrease in those borrowing injecting equipment; a 76 per cent reduction in those lending equipment; and a 33 per cent increase in numbers using condoms.