Individual-level needle and syringe coverage amongst people who inject drugs

“Coverage” is a means of evaluating any public health programs effectiveness. Needle and syringe distribution coverage for people who inject drugs is traditionally measured at the population-level, which has a number of recognised limitations. Alternatively, syringe coverage can be measured at the individual-level, which provides a more complete and nuanced assessment of coverage and associated areas of deficiency. This thesis explores individual-level syringe coverage, broadening the understanding of syringe coverage, its measurement and barriers, and provides recommendations for the improvement of harm reduction service delivery and hence the reduction of injecting risk behaviours and blood-borne virus transmission.