Moreland Hall is currently applying for registration of a secondary (private) NSP at its Jessie street site .

 

This move recognises the human rights of drug users to health and health services and acknowledges that sterile syringe programs have been endorsed by a wide range of scientific and medical organisations, as well as by UNAIDS and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

 

The Needle and Syringe Program in Victoria is internationally acclaimed, and has been expanded to help prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis C. It has been instrumental in maintaining one of the lowest drug-related HIV infection rates in the world. A report commissioned by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care in 2002 : ‘Return on Investment in Needle and Syringe Programs in Australia’, indicates that NSPs, up to the year 2000, prevented approximately 25,000 cases of HIV and 21,000 cases of hepatitis C in Australia.

 

For further information contact Julie Bowen