Editing Needle and syringe programmes (section)

{{Short description|Method of providing drug users with uninfected equipment}}
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{{Update |Legal Aspects|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox medical intervention
| name         = Needle exchange programme
| synonym      = Syringe-exchange programme (SEP), needle exchange program (NEP)
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| caption      = Contents of a needle-exchange kit
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A '''needle and syringe programme''' ('''NSP'''), also known as '''needle exchange program''' ('''NEP'''), is a [[social service]] that allows [[Drug injection|injection]] drug users (IDUs) to obtain clean and unused [[hypodermic needle]]s and associated [[paraphernalia]] at little or no cost. It is based on the philosophy of [[harm reduction]] that attempts to reduce the [[Risk factor (epidemiology)|risk factor]]s for blood-borne [[disease]]s such as [[HIV/AIDS]] and [[hepatitis]].