What are the obstacles?

What are the obstacles?

Despite the evidence that they do not encourage drug use, some authorities still refuse to support needle exchanges and other programmes to help injecting drug users. Restrictions on pharmacies selling syringes without prescriptions, and on possession of drug paraphernalia, can also hamper HIV prevention programmes by making it harder for drug users to avoid sharing equipment.

Many resource-poor countries lack facilities for rigorously screening blood supplies.³¹ In addition a lot of countries have difficulty recruiting enough donors, and so have to resort to importing blood or paying their citizens to donate, which is not the best way to ensure safety.

In much of the world the safety of medical procedures in general is compromised by lack of resources, and this may put both patients and staff at greater risk of HIV infection.