Vol. 384 No. 1
asked the Minister for Health the facilities he will set up in the near future in Dublin regarding (a) intravenous drug users (b) intravenous drug abusers who are HIV positive (c) babies who are HIV positive or who have full-blown AIDS and (d) the general public who are diagnosed as having full-blown AIDS or who are HIV positive; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
98.
asked the Minister for Health the facilities which are available for the rehabilitation of intravenous drug users in Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 98 together.
Details of the various bodies in the Dublin area, both statutory and voluntary, which provide services to facilitate the rehabilitation of IV drug users and to provide counselling and advice to those drug users who are HIV positive are set out in my Department's publication "Directory of Organisations dealing with Substance Abuse".
Four hundred and fifty thousand pounds has been made available from lottery funds for special AIDS projects in 1988. Part of this money has gone to the voluntary drug agencies to enable them to expand their AIDS related work.
A major proportion of the allocation has been directed towards the establishment of a pilot outreach project in the Dublin area under the aegis of the Eastern Health Board. The project was initiated in recognition of the fact that IV drug abusers collectively constitute the group most at risk to contacting HIV and to transmitting it to the heterosexual population. The principal objectives of the project, which involves close co-operation with the various voluntary drug agencies working in the area are to identify the IV drug abusing population and to establish one-to-one contact with drug abusers in an attempt to encourage them to come forward for advice and treatment.
One of the elements of the pilot project is a methadone maintenance programme which is being operated by the Drug Advisory and Treatment Centre. This particular element will be closely monitored to determine the effect that this form of treatment may have an reducing the spread of HIV infection among IV drug abusers. The centre has recently been re-located from the Jervis Street site to new premises in Trinity Court, Pearse Street.
In relation to those diagnosed as having full blown AIDS, the necessary medical care is and will continue to be provided in general hospitals by the appropriate consultant depending on the nature of the opportunistic infection the individual may be suffering from. To supplement these services additional funds have been made to St. James's Hospital for additional counsellors and to the Coombe Hospital for an additional social worker to work in the area of paediatric AIDS.
The Eastern Health Board is currently considering arrangements for a drop-in centre for all people infected with HIV which would provide a range of advisory services. General practitioners are also a primary source of care for such persons and receive back-up from the local health board's community care team.
My Department will continue to keep the services for AIDS sufferers and those infected with HIV under review.
96.
asked the Minister for Health if he will consider having a needle exchange attached to the drug unit in Jervis Street Hospital, Dublin 1, owing to the fact that a large number of intravenous drug users have AIDS or are HIV positive; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The role of needle exchange programmes in preventing the transmission of HIV is currently being evaluated in my Department. This evaluation forms part of an overall evaluation by the European Communities of such programmes and is based on the reports of a number of members states which have carried out pilot projects. The initial results are variable and consequently require more detailed consideration.
A decision on the introduction of a needle exchange programme will be taken in the light of the outcome of the current evaluation and having regard to the effectiveness of various other initiatives taken to reduce the spread of AIDS among IV drug abusers which are aimed at strengthening the infrastructure of the existing service.
The programmes in question include an outreach programme set up in the Eastern Health Board area which aims at one-to-one contact with drug abusers in order to advise and educate them about AIDS and risk behaviour. In addition a methadone maintenance project is being run by the Drug Advisory and Treatment Centre which has recently moved from Jervis Street to more spacious and better equipped premises in Trinity Court, Pearse Street.
97.
asked the Minister for Health the number of detox beds which are available in Dublin hospitals for intravenous drug addicts; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ten beds currently available at Beaumont Hospital are specifically designated as detoxification beds.
