The first needle and syringe exchange program in Iranian prisons

Abstract

Background: Needle and syringe exchange programs within prisons have been reported in international literature to be associated with reduced blood-borne pathogens among intravenous (IV) drug users. Due to lack of previous evaluations for its effect on prevalence of IV drug using among Iranian prisoners, herein we decided to perform the first evaluation of this program in the Iranian prisons. Methods: In a period of nine months, from July 2008 to March 2009, 347 volunteer prisoners enrolled and followed up. All the volunteers were IV drug abusers. The program had been performed in three major prison centers in Iran, including Tehran, Isfahan and Hamadan. The prisoners were given sterile needles and syringes weekly, and the used ones were also collected regularly. Data including number of syringes and shared ones used by each person was collected at the beginning of program; and this data was also documented on a weekly basis as the program proceeded. Information regarding blood-borne diseases was also given to the enrolled prisoners continuously. Results: Among 347 volunteer prisoners enrolled in this program, an average of 17 syringes were reported to be used weekly for IV drug injection before starting the program. Moreover, the volunteers reported to use an average of 3.7 shared syringes during a week. Documented infection with blood-borne diseases (including Human Immunodefficiency Virus, Hepatitis B or C) was also found in 44 prisoners. At the end of the program, prevalence of using shared syringes among volunteers was decline to zero. Conclusion: Execution of needle and syringe exchange programs within prisons can play an important role in decreasing the number of prisoners using shared syringes and also number of shared syringes used by each prisoner. Therefore, it can greatly help medical staff with controlling blood-borne diseases. Abstracts for SupplementInternational Journal of Infectious DiseasesVol. 14Preview Full-Text PDF Open Archive