Document 0231
 DOCN  M9590231
 TI    The Kirketon Road Centre's needle and syringe exchange programme: a
       profile of injecting drug users.
 DT    9509
 AU    Dwyer R; van Beek I; Kaldor J; Kirketon Road Centre, Kings Cross.
 SO    Annu Conf Australas Soc HIV Med. 1994 Nov 3-6;6:295 (unnumbered poster).
       Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE ASHM6/95291868
 AB    Little Australian research on the characteristics of users of needle and
       syringe exchange programs (NSEP) has been reported. This paper reports
       on data collected at the Kirketon Road Centre NSEP over the 12 month
       period in 1992 to 1993. All new users of the KRC NSEP were required to
       register. They were provided with a unique KRC number and asked to give
       demographic details and complete a short questionnaire. Over the study
       period, there were 21,042 attendances and a total of 211,992 needles and
       syringes dispensed. 602 new clients completed the registration
       questionnaire. The sample was composed of predominantly male, 20-30 year
       old, opiate using, longer term injectors. Twenty per cent of the sample
       reported recent sharing of injection equipment. Of the people reporting
       testing for HIV, hepatitis B and C, 5% reported a positive HIV result,
       28% reported a positive hepatitis B result and 37% reported a positive
       hepatitis C result. The results suggest that sharing continues among
       this population although frequency of sharing was not assessed. Although
       shorter term injectors and those injecting speed alone were less likely
       to have ever shared, none of the variables measured were predictive of
       recent sharing. Overall the study provided useful baseline data about a
       sample of inner city NSEP users.
 DE    Adult  Australia  Female  Hepatitis B/EPIDEMIOLOGY/TRANSMISSION
       Hepatitis C/EPIDEMIOLOGY/TRANSMISSION  Human  Male  Narcotic
       Dependence/*EPIDEMIOLOGY  Needle-Exchange Programs/*UTILIZATION  Risk
       Factors  Substance Abuse, Intravenous/*EPIDEMIOLOGY  MEETING ABSTRACT

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).