Other Surveillance Reports

All eight Australian jurisdictions operate a range of needle syringe program (NSP) services and collect data on NSP activity. The NSP NMDC reports aggregated jurisdictional data. Although there are common areas of data collection across all jurisdictions, there are varied levels of completeness and alignment for some agreed NSP NMDC data elements. 

The NSP NMDC Data Dictionary provides guidelines and definitions for NSP specific data elements. The purpose of the NSP NMDC Data Dictionary is to provide a framework for the reporting of NSP NMDC data elements.

The Needle Syringe Program National Minimum Data Collection (NSP NMDC) supports the National Strategies for blood borne and sexually transmissible infections and complements the annual Australian Needle and Syringe Program (NSP) Survey National Data Report.

Prisoner populations are associated with engaging in high risk behaviours, particularly injecting drug use. Consequently, they are at an increased risk of exposure to bloodborne viruses such as hepatitis C, hepatitis B and HIV. Studies have also shown that the correctional environment is a high risk environment for bloodborne virus transmission.

Prisoner populations are characterised by engagement in a range of risk behaviours, most notably injecting drug use. Consequently they are at an increased risk of exposure to bloodborne viruses such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. Previous Australian research had shown that hepatitis C is up to forty times higher in prisoners compared with the general community. Monitoring this population for the presence of blood-borne pathogens and trends in risk behaviours is important in planning effective prevention strategies for this population.

Prisoner populations are characterised by engagement in a range of risk behaviours, most notably injecting drug use. Consequently they are at an increased risk of exposure to bloodborne viruses such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. Previous Australian research has shown that hepatitis C is between thirty to forty times higher among prisoners compared with the general community. Therefore, surveillance of this population to detect the presence of bloodborne pathogens and identify trends in risk behaviours is important in planning effective prevention strategies.

Prisoner populations are characterised by engagement in risk behaviours, most notably injecting drug use. Consequently they are at an increased risk of exposure to bloodborne viruses such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. Previous Australian research has shown that hepatitis C is between thirty to forty times higher among prisoners compared with the general community. Surveillance of this population is important to monitor trends in the prevalence of bloodborne viruses and changes over time in risk behaviours.

By law, all new diagnoses of hepatitis C infection must be reported to the local State or Territory Health Department. Enhanced hepatitis C surveillance involves the collection of additional information in cases of recently acquired infection, primarily related to how hepatitis C infection was acquired and why the person underwent testing. It can also be used to obtain information that should have been provided under routine surveillance but is sometimes incomplete, such as Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander status.