Abstract
years under the mandate of the Federal Office for Public Health (OFSP) on the monitoring system of the HIV/AIDS strategy in Switzerland, 2004-2008, the University Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (IUMSP) in Lausanne has estimated the evolution of the total number of sterile syringes used in Switzerland for injection of psychotropic substances, regardless of whether these injections are controlled or not. The sources used are: the national monitoring of the distribution of syringes in low-threshold structures (SBS), the national survey of pharmacies, the estimate of the number of syringes used by the participants in the therapy programme (programme for the prescription of heroin — prove, then treatment with heroin prescription — HeGeBe).