The first injection room in Geneva: a long marathon ending in a real partnership among different public actors.
Int Conf AIDS 2002 Jul 7-12; 14:(abstract no.. TuOrF1167)
Berthet C, Mani C, Hubner F Groupe sida Geneve, Geneve, Switzerland
ISSUES. An injection room increases the impact of harm reduction in reducing the risks of HIV and hepatitis transmission due to poor injecting conditions. It also offers to IDUs the perspective of finding a place where they will be listened to, offered information, prevention means or a coffee. It reduces the social impact of drug use in the neighbourhood. It is also underlining a health problem (drug use) and giving it an official recognition. This takes time because there are divergent missions public authorities must conceal: prevention, treatment, harm reduction but also repression. DESCRIPTION. In late 2001, the Groupe sida Geneve opened the first injection room in Geneva after long negotiations with political, police, health and social bodies. After years of successful harm reduction programmes (a needle exchange bus is running since 1991), the experience showed that to increase the impact of those programmes -which reduced drastically the HIV infections among IDUs- we had to work on the injecting conditions, a weak point where many IDUs are at risk. We went to our local Government to submit an experimental project of injection room. First negative, the decision was finally positive after a support expressed by all the health and social actors in Geneva. A piloting group, with representatives of those actors, including the Geneva police, has been appointed. LESSONS LEARNED. It takes time to achieve major steps in implementing 'delicate' projects such as a injection room. Such projects can only work if all the partners, including the neighbours, are convinced of the need of it.
RECOMMENDATIONS: It is too early at this moment to give recommendations on the room itself but it clearly shows that a pragmatical approach putting the individual -the drug user- in the middle of the process is the only valid solution. It also helps to bring a dignity to drug users, in not seeing them as criminals but individuals with rights that need our support.
Keywords: AEGIS, HIV Infections, HIV, Substance-Related Disorders, Harm Reduction, HIV Seropositivity, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
