Australian injecting room upholds fight against AIDS epidemic

Nestled among the bars and strip clubs of Sydney's Kings Cross is a service which not only saves lives, but continues the pragmatic approach which prevented a HIV epidemic among drug-users in Australia. Behind a nondescript shopfront is the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre — the only place in the southern hemisphere where users can inject heroin and other drugs under the care of registered nurses. "We know the evidence behind needle syringe programmes and the benefits they have in terms of prevention," says the centre's medical director Marianne Jauncey. "In Australia, for instance, they have very clearly prevented an epidemic of HIV among people who inject drugs.