Steroid injections cut by clinic

Published on Sunday 9 August 2009 21:59

A GROUNDBREAKING clinic for steroid users has convinced about 30 per cent of people accessing its services to stop injecting.

The Steroid Drop-In Clinic, the only one of its kind in Scotland, opened in February for a six-month pilot as part of the Turning Point needle-exchange project in West Street, Glasgow.

The clinic's aim is to persuade people not to inject steroids. It provides health education packs about the risks, as well as dietary and training regimes to gain the body image people are after.

However, those who cannot be dissuaded from using steroids are shown how to do so safely and given packs, which include single-use needles.

Out of 72 steroid injectors who used the clinic during the first ten weeks of opening, 27 per cent decided to leave without the special needle equipment.

Carole Hunter, the lead pharmacist for Glasgow Addiction Services (GAS), said: "Growing numbers of people using the established needle-exchange service were steroid users.

"This group are at risk from Hepatitis A and B and other blood-borne viruses if they share or reuse injecting equipment."

Gus Cunningham, who runs the clinic, is also a power lifter and a sports' science graduate. He said: "Many people think that using steroids is a shortcut to putting on bulk, but you still need to train and watch your diet and water intake. (They are] not a magic pill.

"The best way is to build up natural bulk through a proper nutrition and exercise regime and you will keep it for the rest of your life. This is the focus of the information I provide to all clients at the clinic."

The clinic is a joint initiative between Gas, of which NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is a partner, and the Glasgow Drugs Crisis Centre.