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

Needle/syringe replacement programs started sixteen years ago in Australia have demonstrated their effectiveness in reducing the transmission of HIV and hepatits C infections, according to a report commissioned by the Comonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. The report compared data from cities around the world that had never had needle exchange programs to cities that had had at least temporary programs. The report concludes that needle replacement programssaved governments at least $2.4 billion.