Needles supplied to hundreds of addicts

Bay project ‘steps up’ to halt spread of disease among drug users There are about 120 drug addicts in 10 of the wards who inject themselves

Thousands of sterile needles are being distributed to drug addicts in Nelson Mandela Bay every month as a new programme kicks off to stop the spread of diseases.

TB HIV Care official Siyasanga Ngcebetsha, who presented the project to the South African Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (Sacendu), said they distributed more than 7 000 needles in November and 6 000 in December for the pilot project.

She said there were an estimated 120 drug addicts in 10 of the municipal wards who injected themselves.

TB HIV Care spokeswoman Alison Best said the needles were part of a harm reduction programme in the Bay through its Step Up Project. “The Step Up Project is also implemented in three other cities,” Best said.

“Prior to starting the project in Nelson Mandela Bay, research was undertaken that identified an unmet public health need in people who inject drugs in the area.

“The Step Up Project is a carefully considered response based on science, research data and compassion in the face of the HIV and hepatitis C epidemics in South Africa.”

She said the programme did not only distribute needles.

“The services are based on a package of services recommended by the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, among others.

It includes HIV counselling and testing, screening for TB and sexually transmitted infections, basic wound care, social support and health information. “In line with recommendations from the World Health Organisation, and South Africa’s National Strategic Plan for HIV, TB and STIs, we distribute sterile injecting equipment in a responsible manner and take every measure to ensure that these needles and syringes are returned to us or are disposed of in a safe manner.

“We educate, encourage, and incentivise those in the programme to return the needles to us.

“We also provide portable ‘sharps’ containers, from which used needles cannot be extracted once inserted.”

She said once this container was returned, it could be disposed of in line with medical waste disposal guidelines.

“We also conduct regular cleaning operations in public areas where we know people inject drugs to remove any needles that may have been discarded inappropriately.

“Before the project, service users bought equipment at pharmacies, but many could not afford to purchase enough.

“Reusing or sharing equipment can lead to burst veins or the formation of abscesses, as well as the transmission of HIV and hepatitis B and C.”

Providing sterile injecting equipment reduces the risk.

Since the start of the programme, 212 of 222 people reported that they used a new needle the last time they injected drugs, with 207 reporting not to have shared a needle.