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LegalisationNeedle Exchange was legalised in New Zealand through the introduction of the Health (Needles and Syringes) Regulations 1987 which decriminalised the sale of needles and syringes to Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) provided their sale was part of the Needle Exchange Programme. Unfortunately the possession of injecting equipment was not decriminalised at the same time. However the regulations provide a defense against charges under the Misuse of Drugs Act. The New Zealand NEP was the first national Needle Exchange Programme in the world and was originally conceived as a pharmacy and general practitioner based scheme, and initially more than 200 pharmacies were recruited as outlets. In order to provide peer based educational support to the NEP a number of Drug User Groups were formed and contracted to provide complementary educational programmes. The groups decided that they would also provide after-hours needle exchange services at evenings and weekends to complement pharmacy outlets. Current Issues in Needle Exchange Because of the policy of charging for injection equipment, most IDUs re-use them many times and sales within the NEP remained at a consistently low level for many years. Anecdotal evidence and comparative studies have shown that needles and syringes are re-used between 7 and 10 times before being discarded or returned for destruction. As in most weternised countries prevalence of Hepatitis C infection amongst IDUs is high in New Zealand with an estimated 60-70% of current IDUs already infected. Awareness within the drug using community of hepatitis C infection levels has brought home to many IDUs the dangers of reusing injection equipment. As a result of this, needle exchange sales have grown more rapidly since 1994 as users move towards the single use of injection equipment. This trend has had a marked effect in decreasing the reuse and sharing of needles and syringes. The proportion of used needles and syringes returned for destruction has improved from a national average of 26 percent of sales in 1994, to 52.9% of sales in 2000. The New Zealand Needle Exchange Programme has to date been extremely successful at preventing the spread of HIV amongst IDUs. In 1996 less than 50 people who had confirmed HIV infections stated that they had a history of injecting drug use. New Zealand currently enjoys the lowest rate of HIV infection amongst drug users in the OECD, at <0.5% of injecting drug users infected, this is despite having a user-pays based programme. Currently there are more than 180 pharmacy based outlets and 13 peer based needle exchanges participating in the Programme Volumes Sales of injection equipment through the Needle Exchange Programme 1988-2000  DATA: Nimmo S - Needle Exchange Programme - Availability Report 2000 
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