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I
f you’ve visited Dublin recently, you may have noticed that
something innovative is afoot on the streets of Ireland’s capital
city – quite literally. The Ana Liffey Drug Project has recently
expanded its peripatetic needle and syringe programme (NSP)
as part of a progressive form of innovative outreach work. The
2013 version of the project, which was originally launched in
June 2010, combines old-fashioned footwork with
telecommunications, emerging technologies and high-visibility
promotional material on the streets.
The project was brought to my attention during a recent visit to the Republic of
Ireland and I was fascinated by the initiative because of its relevance to topics that I
have spent almost six years researching in various towns and cities throughout the
UK – namely street-based injecting and drug-related litter. I was so impressed by the
project that, on my return to England, I contacted the director of the Ana Liffey Drug
Project, Tony Duffin, to find out more about this potentially groundbreaking venture.
Ana Liffey Drug Project is
a national addiction service
with a low threshold harm
reduction ethos. The
organisation receives funding
from a number of sources,
including the Health Service Executive, drug and alcohol task forces, the
Probation Service of Ireland, other local authorities and government
departments. One of the ways Ana Liffey engages with drug users and other
stakeholders is in the reduction of drug-related harm associated with episodes
of street-based injecting, which often takes place in public places throughout
Dublin city. As an indicator of the frequency of public injecting in the city
centre, a recent report (
Re-establishing contact: A profile of clients attending the
health promotion unit – needle exchange at Merchants Quay Ireland
) highlighted
that 14 per cent of the 388 injecting drug users attending a fixed-site city
centre NSP reported regular injecting in public places ‘in the last month’. This
translates to approximately 55 individuals of the cohort regularly involved in
episodes of street-based injecting in concealed alleyways and side streets
throughout the city.
Furthermore, as there are few public conveniences in
Dublin city, street-based injecting sites are located in
what I have termed category B and category C settings,
such as alleyways, doorways and secluded settings
hidden from public view, or in ‘opportunistic’ settings
concealed within business premises. These are places
that are among the most harmful environments for
street-based injecting drug use. For these reasons, Tony
Duffin made the case for introducing medically
supervised injecting centres to Dublin at a recent
safer
city for all
seminar (http://www.aldp.ie/resources/video).
In the meantime, the Ana Liffey Drug Project is
continuing to provide a proactive outreach service as
part of an ongoing harm reduction response to street-
based injecting drug use. This involves two outreach
workers walking the streets of central Dublin equipped
with, among other things, a pink vanity case for carrying-
out street-based interventions. The case makes it easy
for clients to locate the staff, who often deliver the
service in busy city centre locations. Within it is a range
of injecting equipment and other paraphernalia that
would be available from a more orthodox (static) NSP. As
8 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| August 2013
Cover story |
Outreach
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
Stephen Parkin
was so impressed
by The Ana Liffey Project’s innovative
street-based outreach work in Dublin
that he contacted director Tony Duffin
to find out more
Getting
street
‘All our staff are very client
focused, we’re constantly
seeking new ways to reach
marginalised clients, or to
improve accessibility to
existing services...’