PUSH FOR DRUG, HEALTH CENTRE

An injecting room for drug users in central Melbourne would fail unless it
was part of a broader health service, a city councillor said yesterday.

The inner city needed a community health centre that also could provide
injecting and other drug services, Cr Kevin Chamberlin said.

Cr Chamberlin said a "stand-alone" injecting room would not be able to offer
all the services that injecting drug users needed and may not have a
long-term future.

A community health centre providing the full range of community health care,
including drug-related services, was needed in the city, he said.

The Health Minister, Mr John Thwaites, said the suggestion was consistent
with Government policy.

"Our policy is to have a safe injecting facility linked to an existing
health facility," Mr Thwaites said. "We would not have an injecting facility
by itself. It would not work."

The Lord Mayor, Cr Peter Costigan, said he was happy for the option to be
examined. He said it may be discussed by the council's environment committee
on 8 December.

Cr Chamberlin said large areas of the city, including Parkville, Carlton,
North and West Melbourne and Southbank, did not have direct access to
community health services.

"People with drug-related injuries and illnesses should have access to the
full range of community health and hospital services," he said.

"The council has done the work in recent years and identified the need for a
community health centre and that's where needle exchange and safe injecting
facilities should be located as well. It should be in a central city
location to be identified after a proper public consultation."

"A community health-care centre would be an ongoing provider of primary care
in the central city."

Cr Joanna Pace said Cr Chamberlin's proposal was an improvement on moves by
the Wesley Central Mission to open its own centre.

The Government intends to set up supervised injecting centres in the city,
Springvale, Collingwood, St Kilda and Footscray, areas with high levels of
illicit drug use.