Which is the lesser evil? Distributing syringes and needles to drug users to help reduce the rate of HIV infection caused by sharing of syringes or facing the risk of increasing drug use owing to the availability of needles? That is the burning question facing officials of an initiative by the ministry of public health in conjunction with the national agency for the campaign against drugs (NACADA) that seeks to distribute over 8 million syringes to over 46,000 drug users across the country, an initiative that has been lauded and shamed in equal measure. But as Evelyn Wambui reports, advocates of this programme say it may just as well reduce both the spread of HIV and drug use across the country.

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