Syringes

(asked on 24th November 2017) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and the devolved administrations on the siting of needle exchange facilities.


Answered by
Victoria Atkins Portrait
Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This question was answered on 30th November 2017

The Home Office worked with a range of government departments at official and ministerial level, including the Department of Health, to develop the Government’s 2017 Drug Strategy, which was published on 14 July. The strategy is clear that maintaining the availability of injecting equipment through needle and syringe programmes plays a key role in preventing blood borne infections. Alongside the Strategy, the Department of Health published the updated ‘Drug Misuse and Dependence: UK Guidelines on Clinical Management’, which provides further advice for clinicians and commissioners on this issue. It is for local authorities and their partners to follow local planning processes in order to reach a decision on the location of needle and syringe exchanges.

The UK Government continues to regularly engage with the devolved administrations on a broad range of drug policy issues, including treatment and recovery support and approaches to reducing wider health harms associated with drug misuse.

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