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Changhua to offer 24-hour syringe vending machines

Changhua's County's Public Health Bureau said yesterday that it will put syringe-dispensing machines in 49 locations around the county to provide drug users with round-the-clock access to sterile syringes.

Yeh Yen-po (葉彥伯), bureaudirector, said the vending machines were being installed as part of the county government's program to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases by making it unnecessary for drug addicts to share needles.

"For just NT$10, drug users can get two sterile syringes, diluent and alcohol-soaked sanitary tissues," Yeh said.

He said that the number of new HIV/AIDS cases resulting from the sharing of needles among intravenous drug users in Changhua had increased to 166 in 2005.

However, after the county government began the clean needle program in late 2006, the number of new cases declined to 92 last year, a 52 percent drop over the figure for the previous year.

Under the program, the Public Health Bureau set up HIV/AIDS information service centers at pharmacies, clinics, hospitals and 27 bureau offices around the county, Yeh said.

Intravenous drug users can receive sterile syringes at any of these centers, he said, adding that a total of 160,000 syringes were handed out at the centers last year.

The health bureau decided to install syringe dispensing machines after drug users complained that they could only obtain syringes during the centers' hours of operation.

Other cities and counties have similar plans, including Keelung City, Taipei County and Taipei City.
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