First Evaluation of the Needle/Syringe Exchange in Amsterdam, Holland (From Global Impact of AIDS, P 369-373, 1988, Alan F Fleming, et al, -- See NCJ-115365)

• NCJ Number: 115383
• Author(s): E C Buning; C Hartgers; G van Santen; A Verster; R A Coutinho
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 5 pages
• Sale Source: Alan R. Liss, Inc
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The program through which intravenous drug users in Amsterdam, Holland can exchange their used syringe and needle for a sterile one does not appear to have increased drug use among needle exchangers or to have reduced the numbers of clients of drug-free treatment facilities.

Abstract

Amsterdam has about 6,500 to 7,000 hard-drug users. The city's drug policy is pragmatic and nonmoralistic, focusing on harm reduction if a drug addict is not curable at a particular moment. The methadone bus is an example of a harm reduction program in that it emphasizes easy accessibility, medical and social intake, fluid methadone on the spot, no urine checks, and needle and syringe exchange. The numbers of needles exchanged has grown from 25,000 in 1984 to 700,000 in 1987. An evaluation initiated in 1987 compared 73 exchangers with 75 nonexchangers. Findings showed that the exchange helps certain groups to use drugs in a safer way, that it does not appear to have resulted in the recruitment of new intravenous drug addicts. The effect on the spread of HIV is unknown, but the program is helping a large group of intravenous drug users to minimize the risk of being infected with AIDS.