In Australia, between 29% and 52% of people in prisons report injecting drugs at some point in their lives, and around 40% of people who were injecting drugs in the community before prison continue to inject inside. A 2024 study of Canada’s existing needle and syringe program, operating in nine prisons, found it will save the health-care system $C0.85 million in treatment costs between 2018 and 2030 by preventing hepatitis C and other injection-related infections. To bring an economic perspective to this debate in Australia, our new study estimated the costs and benefits of introducing needle and syringe programs in all Australian prisons, aiming to reach 50% of people who inject drugs in prison between 2025 and 2030.
Author: Farah Houdroge, Mathematical Modeller, Burnet Institute, Mark Stoové, Head of Public Health, Co-Head HIV Elimination Program, Head of Justice Health Research, Burnet Institute, Nick Scott, Head of Modelling and Biostatistics, Burnet Institute
Published at: 2025-04-20 20:07:03
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