Médecins Sans Frontières - Webclip - Syringe and needle exchange programme (English)

Unique Identifier Code / URN MSB105081

Date taken / Date Recorded 04/10/2021 3:17 PM

Country Mozambique

Commissioning section MSF-SWITZERLAND

Photographer / videographer / producer António Mabuie

Copyright António Mabuie/MSF

Usage Rights (MSF) External Media, MSF Fundraising, MSF Publications, Social Media

Formal Consent Copy available no

Editor's rating ★★★ (F)

Video format h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661)

Duration 3m20s

Maximum Size 1920px × 1080px 358.73 MB

Additional Information / Shotlist What’s in these bags ?
Sterile injecting equipment for people using drugs.
Selma prepares the bags to be distributed.

SELMA
When people ask me, ‘what do you do? Who do you work with?’ And when I tell them, they say, ‘no, you're not normal’, but that's okay, I don't mind, I like what I do.

[Text] Selma works as a community health educator for MSF, in a drop-in centre for people who use drugs, in Mafalala, Mozambique.
In her day-to-day routine, she works in the harm reduction programme put in place by MSF to improve the health of people who use drugs. In Maputo, it is estimated that around 50 percent of people who inject drugs are HIV positive.  That’s why MSF started a needle and syringe exchange programme. It provides people with sterile injecting equipment, which reduces the risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV and Hepatitis from using shared needles.
 SELMA When we are in the community, in addition to providing syringes, we educate our key population, which are injecting drug users. This work is important because it reduces a lot of risks, in addition to [reducing] diseases. I believe it helps many beneficiaries, because if they manage to find money to consume [drugs], it’s not likely they will have enough money to buy a new syringe to do it, so what they used to do was, they used a syringe that others had already used. They shouldn’t do that. [Text] The Mafalala drop-in centre is the first point of contact with health services for many people who use drugs in Maputo. They are often discriminated against in health centres and stop going there.  The Centre opened in 2018. It offers a whole range of medical and social services for people who use drugs.  Opioid substitution therapy (methadone) and overdose treatment are also available. 
NATALIA We started to provide some medical services, working with the beneficiaries and with the community to define the role of the centre and the services that they needed.
Our main role as a medical organization was to have impact in the transmission of HIV and hepatitis and other blood borne diseases.
 [Text] Since its opening, until June 2021, the community health centre in Mafalala provided services to 2,441 people.
Around 170 people used to visit the centre on a daily basis, but since the COVID-19 pandemic started and restrictions were put in place, about 30 people come every day.
 SELMA For me, this work helps a lot of people, not just the beneficiaries, but also the population in the city. Especially the population here in the Mafalala neighbourhood, where we have so many beneficiaries, who didn't have a reference point, a place where they could go to, to seek solace and shelter at least, when the beneficiary comes here, and is treated well, he says "I'm important, I feel important, at least someone cares about me".