Syringe exchange in community pharmacies--The Portuguese experience

Since 1993 the participation of Portuguese pharmacies to the national Syringe Exchange Programme (SEP) has remained high. However, no national guidelines or standard procedures are available regarding the provision of this service. We aimed to describe practices and attitudes toward syringe dispensing and other harm reduction strategies in Portuguese pharmacies.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. All pharmacies in Portugal (n=2775) were invited to participate. The questionnaire addressed SEP ever involvement and discontinuation; injection equipment policies; problems and needs in service provision.

Participation rates were 69.6% among pharmacies involved in SEP and 42.7% in those not involved in the programme. Among current providers, 64.3% followed a strict "one-for-one" policy and 21.6% established limits on the number of syringes distributed. Syringe selling was reported by 76.2%. One-tenth of pharmacies supervised methadone consumption Problems in service provision were experienced by 12.8% of respondents. Need for increased training and improvement of referral pathways were frequently reported.

Pharmacy-based harm reduction interventions in Portugal have tended to follow strict policies favouring conservative approaches. Training and feedback adaptation seem indispensable to avoid service discontinuation and boost an activity with an essential humanitarian dimension.