Opioids (heroin and synthetic opioids) have recently been detected in drugs sold as crystal meth in NSW. This unexpected mix is a reminder of how important it is to always practice harm reduction. We pulled this guide together to address the harms of getting unexpected opioids in your meth.

Through the Peers on Wheels (POW) project, NUAA has partnered with The Kirby Institute, NSW Health, and selected Local Health Districts, to work towards eliminating hep C through outreach, testing and offering treatment options. At the heart of the project is a van, with a Point of Care Testing (POCT) machine and a skilled peer workforce. The aim is to remove barriers to hep C treatment among people who inject drugs by going to where people live and providing the service without stigma. The POW team has visited various regional cities and towns and rural communities around NSW, but Users News caught up with them in Riverwood in the suburbs of Sydney.

Kate is a proud Aboriginal woman who has a history of injecting heroin. She wants to share her unique experience of clearing hep C twice, nearly 2 decades apart. Her first treatment was in prison in the early 2000s, with Interferon. Soon after she got out of prison, she got hep C again and didn’t get treated until 2019. Getting treated a second time has been life changing for her and she now supports peers with hep C and drug use.

A number of things come up for users at this time of year: organising pharmacotherapy doses and inter-state transfers; wondering if your dealer is going to be working on Christmas Day; sorting out injecting equipment when NSP hours change over Christmas as staff have a well-earned break! ...But for many of us, there is no break from being a user. And the holiday period brings additional health issues for users, particularly overdose prevention and bloodborne virus awareness.

Peers On Wheels (POW) is a new pilot project NUAA has launched. The project delivers mobile peer-led testing and treatment services for hepatitis C (hep C). POW is friendly, confidential, quick and easy. POW is visiting a bunch of places in NSW over the coming months. To help spread the word to peers, we interviewed MJ, the project’s Coordinator. 

Legal and safety issues around drugs and sex work.

A focus on some of the drugs that are more commonly-used in chemsex settings - methamphetamine, poppers/amyl, GHB, and erectile dysfunction medication such as Viagra and Cialis

‘When I inject into my veins, it’s my way or the highway.’

“While I’ve caused myself a few “headaches” by taking safe using seriously, it’s helped me steer clear of some nasty “migraines” like bloodborne viruses.

Finger prick testing is fast, convenient and easy to use – and you are in control. 

Put simply, there are three things for hep C transmission to occur.