Otago Daily Times - “An increasing number of drug users getting life-threatening injuries from needles in the South Island has prompted University of Otago researchers to call for more funding to support needle exchanges..." Mar 2025

Christchurch Press - “A drug harm reduction service has seen the number of drug checks it carries out across the country soar by almost seven times within a year.

After bringing in a readily available, continuous drug checking service almost two years ago, DISC Trust saw the number of checks rise by almost 600%….” Mar 2025

The Christchurch Press - “Four years ago intravenous drug user Emma* was in hell. She was being beaten in an abusive relationship and alone. Christchurch’s Rodger Wright needle exchange gave her the one thing she needed - people who were there for her. She shares her experience as the exchange opens a renovated space for their clients….”

Nelson Mail -”Visitors to Nelson’s needle exchange don’t fit the “drug user” stereotype, says Zoe Bradshaw.

“It’s not who you’d expect,” said Bradshaw, a harm reduction health promoter for Nelson Injecting Community Health Enterprise (Niche), which is part of the Drug Injecting Services in Canterbury Trust… Aug 2024

Christchurch Press - “Pete Siataga was an intravenous drug user for 20 years before he was diagnosed with Hepatitis C.

Now, in his late 60s, he is working to check and treat communities with the same “miracle” drug that saved him…” Jul 2024

Housing First Ōtautahi (HFŌ) has partnered with the Rodger Wright Centre Health Service (RWCHS) to improve health outcomes for kaewa, through a new pilot health clinic alongside outreach services. So far, over 38 kaewa have accessed the weekly health clinics located at the HFŌ office and The Commons - Jun 2024.

TVNZ Sunday - Tracy East lost two adult children to abuse of methadone, the legal drug prescribed for opioid addiction. She talks to Sunday about the controversial treatment, and particularly its use of "takeaways". DISC Trust National Harm Reduction Lead, Jason George, provides comment on substitution treatment - May 2024

2024 - Thousands of Kiwis living with the virus don’t know it. DISC Trust’s Philippa Jones shares the grass roots, peer lead mobile service being delivered with partner organisations; Whakaoranga Whanau Recovery Hub, Kaupapa Maori and Odyssey Auckland. 2 mins 22 sec.

Know Your Stuff - “It can happen – those moments when things get out of hand. Maybe you mixed something you shouldn’t have or took a little bit too much. We all make mistakes, and it’s crucial to know that calling for help is not just okay – it could be a life-saving decision…” Jun 2022

Dominion Post - “A pop-up drug testing centre in Masterton this week is the latest effort to combat a sudden spate of drug overdoses in Wairarapa.

All the people who overdosed in Wairarapa at the weekend after taking suspected fentanyl are out of hospital and now testing and treatment capacity was being ramped up….” Jun 2022

RNZ - “A balance sheet shows treatment for HIV is our most successful public health programme ever. The bottom line of some new data is that the New Zealand Needle Exchange Programme has doubled its return over the last 20 years, indicating less is spent now than it was in the early 2000s on treating HIV, also hepatitis B and C, and other injection-related injuries…” Apr 2022

Newshub - “For the first time since the mid-1980s, homebake heroin labs are being found by police in New Zealand.

Newshub can reveal that in just the past few months, six such labs have been discovered in Auckland…” Aug 2021