Colombia kicks off 1st clean needle programme for drug users

Health professionals began distributing clean needles to heroin addicts in five Colombian cities, after the launch of a new program to reduce the spread of HIV and Hepatitis.

The nationwide program began on the streets of Medellin, Bogota, Cali, Cucuta, and Armenia Wednesday, as Ministry of Health employees searched for hangouts popular to heroin users, according to Colombia’s El Tiempo newspaper.

The Ministry of Health has so far allotted 100,000 clean syringe kits for distribution among addicts, while used needles will be collected and destroyed by trained personnel.

According to a North American Congress on Latin America report, a 2010 study showed that 3.8% among a sample of 231 heroin addicts in Medellin were HIV-positive, while a 2011 study of 141 heroin users in Cucuta and Pamplona showed a 9% rate of HIV infection. Most recently, Bogota’s health secretary reported a 23% increase of HIV cases in 2013; of the total number of people know to be infected, 325 died of the illness.

While the director of the Center for Drug and Safety Studies at the University of the Andes says the program is aimed at only controlling the spread of AIDS and Hepatitis B and C and not about reducing drug consumption, the Ministry of Health hopes that the delivery of kits will bring some addicts into the health system with access to treatment.

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