The leaflet includes advice about safer injecting practices and provides guidance on how to look after veins and limit vein damage.  It stresses the importance of never sharing drug-taking equipment to help prevent the transmission or acquisition of hepatitis and HIV. While the main focus is on injecting drug use, the leaflet states that blood-borne viruses can also be transmitted or acquired by sharing snorting equipment.

 

Service users are encouraged to seek further advice from needle-exchange services, which are listed in the leaflet, with their opening hours and contact details. Services providing HIV/AIDS prevention strategies in the Dublin 4 area are advertised.  Drug treatment and counselling services in the Dublin South East, East Wicklow and Dun Laoghaire areas also are identified. For people seeking treatment and counselling services in other areas, a helpline number is given.  The community addiction teams in the greater Dublin and East Wickow areas are listed with their contact details.

 

John Craven, senior outreach worker in the HSE East Coast Area, designed the information leaflet. It was funded by the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Local Drugs Task Force, and will be distributed to all Irish needle-exchange services. There are plans to evaluate the impact of the leaflet among service users.

 

For further information, contact John Craven at (01) 280 3335 or 086 859 0734