Under Supervision: France tackles public injecting

Health Minister Marisol Touraine and the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, were both in attendance at the inauguration of a facility that has caused a considerable amount of controversy over the years amongst the people of France.

The centre will provide a safe, professionally maintained and supervised location for intravenous drug users to inject themselves. The move follows on from the successful establishment of over 90 similar centres across the world, the first of which opened in Berne, Switzerland, in 1986. Around 100 people are expected to attend the centre in Paris every day.

Touraine described the centre as a ‘[..] strong political response, for a pragmatic and responsible policy that brings high-risk people back towards the health system rather than stigmatising them..’

Events in Paris follow on from those in Copenhagen, where the largest safe injection centre in the world thus far opened last August.

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