Discarded Syringes found one hundred metres away from Hedland Primary School

A Hedland local is calling on the Hedland Health campus to abandon its needle and syringe program due to the consistent volume of unsealed syringes she has found 100m from her son’s primary school. Under the needle and syringe program, hospitals and health services across WA provide ‘fit packs” containing five sterile needles and syringes to drug users to help prevent transmission of blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis and HIV. The fit packs come with containers aimed for the safe disposal of used needles and syringes, as is written on the fit pack “please get rid of your fits safely! Dumping them in public places is a health danger for everyone and puts NSP services at risk”. But according to Brooke (not her real name) such health warnings are redundant as she encounters daily a fresh batch of uncapped needles on her commute to dropping her six-year-old son at Cassia Primary School. “It’s horrible, honestly, when I’m driving up to the school and I see all the needles and cars drive by, my conscience was like no we can’t just leave it there, the kids walk this way.” Brooke picked up the needles she saw on the outskirts of Cassia primary and disposed of them safely at the Hedland Health Campus on Friday morning. During her disposal she was disheartened to witness what she called “a known user” walking out of the establishment with a fit pack. She says the increase in drug taking and the haphazard disposal of needles and syringes in the town’s streets is antagonising the local community. “It’s (discarded needles) is talked about so frequently in the community,” she said. “The police don’t care enough, or there’s too much of it going on for them to control. “It’s an endless vicious cycle on everybody’s radar every single day.” Brooke acknowledged that the program was intended to serve the needs of community members grappling with addiction; however, its current execution was falling short of effectively supporting locals. “I know they are doing it to prevent crime, but the disposing of needles and syringes needs to be done in a more controlled environment,” she said. “There should be a hospital room where people can do it and needles and syringes are disposed of there. “Right now, people are picking up fit packs, using in the community and discarding needles and syringes with no care for anybody’s health or safety, especially the children.” In response to Brooke’s concerns a WA Department of Health spokesperson provided the following statement: “Needle and Syringe programs are a harm reduction strategy to help prevent people who inject drugs from getting blood-borne viruses. “The program provides sterile needles and syringes to people who inject drugs. “The purpose of this important public health program is to help reduce the incidence of sharing and re-using of injecting equipment which aims to decrease the spread of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C among people who inject drugs and potentially the wider community. “NSPs have been shown to be a cost-effective measure to reduce community transmission of hepatitis C and HIV. “It is a requirement that all needles and syringes distributed in WA are provided with a safe disposal container. “Pre-packaged needle and syringe packs include a disposal receptacle and are labelled with safe disposal information. “All needle and syringe program (NSP) providers are taught to educate their clients on safe disposal.