AN EXPERIMENTAL syringe exchange project in prisons has been deferred, according to the director of the national prison service, Rui Sá Gomes.
Lisbon and Paços de Ferreira prisons had been selected to pilot the programme but Gomes said the system may only be ready next week.
The needle kits are ready for distribution and the guidelines are in accordance with the prison system’s own rules but the system has been widely contested by the prison guard union, which would prefer to see a treatment programme or a campaign to stop drugs from reaching prisoners instead.
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