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Adapting harm reduction services during COVID-19: lessons from the supervised injecting facilities in Australia.
- Source :
-
Harm reduction journal [Harm Reduct J] 2021 Feb 17; Vol. 18 (1), pp. 20. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Feb 17. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- The COVID-19 crisis has had profound impacts on health service provision, particularly those providing client facing services. Supervised injecting facilities and drug consumption rooms across the world have been particularly challenged during the pandemic, as have their client group-people who consume drugs. Several services across Europe and North America closed due to difficulties complying with physical distancing requirements. In contrast, the two supervised injecting facilities in Australia (the Uniting Medically Supervised Injecting Centre-MSIC-in Sydney and the North Richmond Community Health Medically Supervised Injecting Room-MSIR-in Melbourne) remained open (as at the time of writing-December 2020). Both services have implemented a comprehensive range of strategies to continue providing safer injecting spaces as well as communicating crucial health information and facilitating access to ancillary services (such as accommodation) and drug treatment for their clients. This paper documents these strategies and the challenges both services are facing during the pandemic. Remaining open poses potential risks relating to COVID-19 transmission for both staff and clients. However, given the harms associated with closing these services, which include the potential loss of life from injecting in unsafe/unsupervised environments, the public and individual health benefits of remaining open are greater. Both services are deemed 'essential health services', and their continued operation has important benefits for people who inject drugs in Sydney and Melbourne.
- Subjects :
- Australia
COVID-19 Testing
Delivery of Health Care
Drug Overdose therapy
Housing
Humans
Masks
Naloxone therapeutic use
Narcotic Antagonists therapeutic use
New South Wales
Opiate Overdose therapy
Opiate Substitution Treatment
Referral and Consultation
Resuscitation methods
SARS-CoV-2
Substance-Related Disorders
Victoria
COVID-19 prevention & control
Harm Reduction
Infection Control methods
Needle-Exchange Programs
Opioid-Related Disorders rehabilitation
Personal Protective Equipment
Physical Distancing
Substance Abuse, Intravenous rehabilitation
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1477-7517
- Volume :
- 18
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Harm reduction journal
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- 33596940
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-021-00471-x