18-month delay to Elton John-funded needle exchange

A NATIONWIDE needle exchange service for drug addicts — funded by an Elton John charity — has still not been set up, a year and a half after it was announced.

Elton John’s Aids Foundation donated €750,000 to the Government to fund much-needed facilities across the country where intravenous drug users could access clean injecting equipment and health advice.

This was in response to a substantial increase in the number of heroin users outside the Dublin commuter belt and the threat posed by blood-borne viruses, such as HIV and Hepatitis C, spread through the sharing of needles and other equipment.