South Island Needle Exchange Trust

The New Zealand Needle Exchange Programme (NZNEP) is Aotearoa’s leading harm reduction service and has been delivering services to people who inject or use drugs for 35 years.

Established in 1987, the NZNEP was the first state funded nationwide needle exchange programme in the world. The programme is credited with NZs success in containing HIV and resulting in the lowest HIV prevalence amongst people who Inject drugs, in the world. The harm reduction service was built on principles of social justice and human rights recognising that people who use drugs have the right to non-judgemental advice and healthcare.  The programme provides estimated benefits of $39.9 million annually through reducing the burden and its associated costs on the NZ health system. Those estimated benefits are the costs associated with HIV, hepatitis B and C infection, and injection-related injuries, if the service wasn’t available. 

This equates to $6.79 in benefits (including prevented future costs) for our public health system from every dollar spent on the programme. 

NZNEP Te Waipounamu (DISC Trust) provides a range of harm reduction services to people who inject or use drugs, including:

• seven needle exchanges
• a mobile needle exchange on the West Coast
• permanent drug checking in Christchurch and Dunedin
• a Hep C Community Clinic, collocated with the Christchurch needle exchange
• a mobile Hep C service in the South Island in partnership with Te Whatu Ora Southern
• a mobile Hep C service in Northland in partnership with Whakaoranga Whanau Recovery Hub and Te Whatu Ora Northern
• leading the national needle exchange pharmacy programme delivered through 200 pharmacies and other health providers