Footscray and Braybrook could be among the first locations in Victoria to host needle vending machines in a bid to cut infection rates among injecting drug users.
Yarra Drug and Health Forum has flagged the machines as a 24-hour source of sterile needles, providing access when existing needle exchange programs are closed.
Outgoing chief executive Greg Denham said the needles would only be accessible via a special token provided to users through exchange services. “We see it as a common- sense response in areas where there is still an active injecting population,” he said.
“It has almost 100 per cent support among agencies.”
Under the scheme, the unmarked machines would be located at the sites of needle exchange programs, filling a gap during which drug users may otherwise share injecting equipment and risk contracting blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C.
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Mr Denham said studies had shown every dollar spent on preventing the spread of infectious diseases returned $8 in health savings. He pointed to the successful roll-out of the machines in New South Wales in 1992 and other states and said it showed communities should not fear the initiative.
“People walking past won’t even know they are there. It’s not about just plonking them anywhere; they are a response to an existing problem.”
There are no legal reasons the machines cannot be introduced and Mr Denham expects they will appear within months in Footscray, Braybrook, St Kilda and North Richmond.
Maribyrnong mayor Grant Miles said the council tentatively supported a trial.
“The benefits of having clean needles available are well known,” he said. “There can be a bit of a misconception about how they work, but there is no way a child, for instance, could access the machines.”
