HIGH-TECH NEEDLES UNNECESSARY

Re: "ID chips could help find needles," April 13.

I do not believe that there is a significant risk to public health
from jabs from discarded needles; as was noted in the article, the
risk is considered to be extremely low. Anecdotally, a friend who is a
nurse has told me that she was told during her training to simply
"bleed out" any needle jabs because the risk of infection is so low.

Secondly, although RFID tags are useful for tracking items such as
needles, the threat to people's privacy from the tags is immense.
These tags allow too much detailed information to be gathered about
people's movements, habits and behaviours, and as such their existence
is a significant threat to everyone, not just needle users.

Finally, given the lack of necessity and danger to personal privacy
from the tags, I believe that the already slim dollars which support
needle-dispensing organizations should not be wasted on such a
venture; they are desperately needed just to support current services.

Chelsea Garside

Victoria