Safer injecting: the essential paraphernalia

Syringes

The choice of syringe and needle depends on the substance and the injection site area.

There are two kinds of syringes:

• with fixed needle: the needle is already attached to the syringe
• without fixed needle: the needle needs to be attached

Syringes with fixed needles are recommended for injection drug use as they have a low dead space (LDS) -the volume of liquid that remains in the syringe after use. LDS syringes are safer, especially if shared.

Water for injection

Water is needed to dissolve the drug.

Water for injection in single-use vials is sterile and specifically dedicated to this use.

Non-sterile water, such as tap water, is contaminated with bacteria and its injection exposes to infections.

In the absence of sterile water, it is preferable to use water that has been boiled for1 to 5 minutes and then cooled down.

Cookers

To dissolve the substance to inject, people who inject drugs may use spoons or can bottoms, which are not sterile and which use can lead to infections.

Sterile and single-use cookers are safe, heat-resistant and adapted to this purpose.

Like Stericup or Maxicup, they can be colour-differentiated to prevent accidental sharing.

Apothicom cookers all include a sterile cotton filter.

Heating reduces the risk of contamination by bacteria and HIV: 10 seconds is all it takes.

Cotton filters

These filters are made of cotton (100%) and most of them are sterile.

They remove most of insoluble particles.

One filter is included in the Stericup and Maxicup kits.

They are also available in packs of 5.

Sterifilt membrane filters

These filters are equipped with filtering membranes of different types.

They fit directly onto the syringe.

Membrane filters are effective against up to 100% of insoluble particles and bacteria (depending on the membrane).