Supervised ‘injecting centres’ could help drug addicts – report

Merchants Quay Ireland has called for new approaches to respond to intravenous drug users in Dublin city centre for the benefit of drug users and the wider community.

New approches are needed to respond to intravenous drug users in Dublin city centre, with high levels of poly drug use being noted by experts working in the field.

A seminar a report launched by Alex White,TD, Minister of State for Primary Care shows that while the most prevalent drug used was heroin, the majority of drug users are now poly drug users with (75 per cent) using more than one drug.

The report, “A Safer City for All – addressing the risks of injecting drug use”, was organised by Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI) and Ana Liffey Drug Project (ALDP). It showed:

• High levels of poly drug use. While the most prevalent drug was heroin, the report shows the majority of drug users are now poly drug users with (75 per cent) using more than one drug
• High levels of Hepatitis C (Hep C) and other blood borne viruses (BBV) amongst intravenous drug users (IDUs). 45 per cebt of IDUs in the study reported being positive for Hep C
• A high risk group of IDUs, where a high incidence of unsafe injecting practices and sharing of equipment are combined with low rates of testing for HIV and Hep C
• Low access to treatment amongst IDUs who tested positive for Hep C. out of 125 who tested positive for Hep C only 18 were in treatment.

Experts at the seminar called for a number of recommendations to be considered, including the need for easy access to medical detoxification for poly-drug users. The highlighted the fact that many detoxification centres are currently aimed people who use only a single substance such as heroin, or require users to meet relatively high thresholds of stability to access treatment – which they say can further marginalise a proportion of drug users from treatment.

A need for access to blood borne virus (BBV) testing and treatment to be available in current service centres such as MQI’s Health Promotion Unit and ALDP’s Medical Service was also raised. Exploring the concept of Medically Supervised Injecting Centres (MSIC) currently in use in other cities like Madrid or Sydney was also recommended, with data showing these centres can provide early intervention and address issues related to on-street injecting.

Read more...

Source: Jennifer Wade, thejournal.ie, 28/05/13