JULY 26, 2016 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
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In daffodils, hope blooms
(Shawn Smits)
Not only does the daffodil herald the beginning of spring, it’s seen as an international symbol of hope for people affected by cancer. This year is the 30th anniversary of the Cancer Council’s annual daffodil campaign which raises money for research, prevention programs and support services. Since its inception in 1986, more than $137 million has been raised nationally through Daffodil Day. In that time, the five-year cancer survival rate has increased by about 20 per cent, a support line has been created (13 11 20), and there are many new support services and programs. To coincide with Daffodil Day this year, Janice Le Sueur will fill her florist shop with more than 600 of the sunny blooms. She hopes the scale of her order will match the significance of the Cancer Council’s celebration this year. Daffodil Day will be celebrated in Australia on Friday, August 26. Alexandra Laskie
Syringes scourge of city By Ben Cameron Sunshine is Brimbank’s main hotspot for discarded syringes, but there are no state government-funded needle disposal services. A welfare worker says demand for a needle syringe program “is growing”, amid reports of people injecting in plain sight of a childcare centre and discarded syringes being found in primary schools and in a baby change room in the 3020 postcode. Freedom of information data obtained by Star Weekly reveals that Sunshine, St Albans and Deer Park were identified as Brimbank’s injecting hotspots, with at least 72, 62 and 17 syringes collected there respectively since
May, 2013. This data details callouts for Brimbank council workers to pick up discarded syringes. Star Weekly inspected the data and counted a minimum of 188 syringes found across Brimbank since May 2013, but the exact number was likely far more, with council reports stating there had been “a heap” of syringes collected at Keilor Downs, “needles everywhere” at a Deer Park church, and “numerous” syringes picked up in St Albans. Reports detail individual callouts but not always how many syringes are picked up at the location. Syringes collected during the council’s general operation clean-ups are also not always recorded.
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A source close to a childcare centre in Cairnlea said staff regularly saw people inject in the centre carpark. Staff no longer called on the council to collect syringes, and they cleaned up the carpark themselves. “It’s ridiculous; it would happen at lunchtimes, at two or three in the afternoon,” the source said. “You wouldn’t have one [syringe] for a few months then you’d get more than one on a day.” The FOI documents reveal that syringes have also been found on school grounds at St Albans, outside the council’s Keilor offices and at an Australia Post store in St Albans. And, they say, a child almost stepped on a syringe outside a Deer Park pharmacy.
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The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) says its needle and syringe (NSP) services work through agencies, such as pharmacies, providing disposal and collection units. These prevent thousands of cases of infections among intravenous drug users each year, DHHS says. There are no NSP services in Sunshine or Cairnlea. Yarra Drug and Health Forum’s Greg Denham has called for at least one fixed site to be introduced in Sunshine and possibly a mobile program at night and weekends. Council’s city development director Stuart Menzies welcomed any moves to broaden the NSP program in Brimbank, which operates in some areas, including four units at St Albans.
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