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Syringe provision through pharamcies, vending machines and mobile vans to reduce HIV, HCV and injecting risk behaviour
Summary of the evidence
A review of reviews (MacArthur et al., 2014, N=25 reviews), without meta-analysis, concluded that there is:
- insufficient evidence to support the effectiveness of pharmacy based NSP in preventing HIV infections (N=4 studies, 4 positive)
- insufficient evidence to support the effectiveness of syringe provision through vending machine in preventing HIV infections (N=1 study, 1 no association) and reducing injecting risk behaviours (N=3 studies, 1 positive, 2 no association)
- insufficient evidence to support the effectiveness of syringe provision through mobile vans in preventing HIV infections (N=1 study, 1 negative)
Details
Note: this evidence summary is only valid for the outcomes, target groups, settings and substances/patterns of use described below.
