NDARC Technical Report No. 126 (2002)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Supervised injecting centres (SICs) enable the consumption of pre-obtained drugs under hygienic and lower risk conditions. The main objectives are reducing the health and public order problems associated with injecting drug use. With little information available about these Centres in the English language, we conducted a survey of SICs in Europe in 1999-2000.
Contact information was obtained for 39 centres across the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. Information about the existence of an additional six centres was obtained but no contact information was available. The aim of this study was to collate information about these facilities and to identify common and unique elements of service delivery. The survey included questions relating to staffing levels, number and types of rooms, hours of operation, provision of places for clients to smoke drugs, rules and procedures, overdose management, provision of and referral to ancillary services, client load, rates of adverse events, research and evaluation, and funding.
The survey response rate was 40%. This study indicates that SICs are professional health and welfare services; service delivery is low threshold and a comparable range of facilities and services are provided in most Centres. There have been no overdose deaths reported at any of the surveyed centres.