The National Third Sector Sexual Health and Blood-borne Virus Network is concerned at the recent questioning of the cost and necessity of the distribution of injecting equipment to people who inject drugs ("Anger at £4m drugs allocation", The Herald, November 1).
The provision of this type of health intervention is based on significant levels of historical and recent evidence that has shown the impact of this type of intervention in the first case on HIV infection and latterly on hepatitis C infection. The World Health Organisation states, "Evidence from 20 years of research shows that needle and syringe programmes prevent, control and ultimately reduce prevalence of HIV and other blood-borne infections among injecting drug users."
The monetary cost of this intervention is far outweighed by the individual and societal savings by the reduction in transmission of blood-borne viruses. The network does not condone injecting drug use but consider it imperative that access to clean injecting equipment is available to everyone who requires it.
Leon Wylie,
Co-chair, National Third Sector Sexual Health And Blood-borne Virus Network,
Hepatitis Scotland,
1/91 Mitchell Street, Glasgow.
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