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Injecting drug use in Australia: needle/syringe programs prove their worth, but hepatitis C still on the increase

Matthew G Law and Robert G Batey
Med J Aust 2003; 178 (5): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2003.tb05159.x
Published online: 3 March 2003

Needle/syringe programs have resulted in enormous savings in both lives and dollars

Sixteen years after needle/syringe programs (NSPs) were first introduced in Australia, after a period of civil disobedience and amid intense controversy, the recent report Return on investment in needle and syringe programs in Australia1 has convincingly confirmed the effectiveness of NSPs in reducing HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among injecting drug users. The report also draws attention to the program's low cost and high cost-effectiveness.


  • 1 National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, University of New South Wales, Darlinghurst, NSW.
  • 2 Division of Medicine, John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, NSW.


Correspondence: 

Acknowledgements: 

Acknowledgement: The National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research is funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing.

  • 1. Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. Return on investment in needle and syringe programs in Australia. Canberra: Department of Health and Ageing, 2002. Available at: http://www.health.gov.au/pubhlth/publicat/hac.htm (accessed Dec 2002).
  • 2. Hepatitis C Virus Projections Working Group. Estimates and projections of the hepatitis C virus epidemic in Australia 2002. Sydney: National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, University of NSW, August 2002. Available at: http://www.health.gov.au/pubhlth/publicat/hac.htm (accessed Dec 2002).
  • 3. Law MG, on behalf of the Hepatitis C Virus Projections Working Group. Modelling the hepatitis C virus epidemic in Australia. J Gastroenterol Hepatol 1999; 14: 1100-1107.
  • 4. Crofts N, Aitken CK, Kaldor JM. The force of numbers: why hepatitis C is spreading among Australian injecting drug users while HIV is not. Med J Aust 1999; 170: 220-221.
  • 5. Blacker P, Tindall B, Wodak AD, Cooper D. Exposure of intravenous drug users to AIDS retrovirus, Sydney, 1985. Aust N Z J Med 1986; 16: 686-690.
  • 6. Moaven L, Crofts N, Locarnini SA. Hepatitis C virus in Victorian injecting drug users in 1971 [letter]. Med J Aust 1993; 158: 574.
  • 7. Hall W, Ross JE, Lynskey MT, et al. How many dependent heroin users are there in Australia? Med J Aust 2000; 173: 528-531.
  • 8. HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia. Annual surveillance report 2002. Sydney: National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, University of NSW, 2002.
  • 9. Degenhardt L. Opioid overdose deaths in Australia. Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, 2001.
  • 10. Brown K, Crofts N. Health care costs of a continuing epidemic of hepatitis C virus infection among injecting drug users. Aust N Z J Public Health 1998; 22: 384-388.
  • 11. Strathdee SA, Patrick DM, Currie SL, et al. Needle exchange is not enough: lessons from the Vancouver injecting drug use study. AIDS 1997; 11: F59-F65.

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