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Welcome Muzafar, arms open Greater Dandenong mayor Jim Memeti greets refugee advocate Muzafar Ali who stopped in Harmony Square during his epic 4000-kilometre Ride for Education on Friday 20 June. The event marked World Refugee Day, which was fitting given that Muzafar is hoping to raise $250,000 for refugee schools across the world. His organisation Cisarua Learning also supports underground schooling for girls in Afghanistan, who are barred from education by the country’s Taliban regime. Muzafar also met with Dandenong-based Hazara Women for Change, which also supports women and girls’ education in Afghanistan. More on the story, turn to page 8 (Stewart Chambers: 483765)
Sharp backlash A Springvale public health service’s 24/7 syringe vending machine has been branded a safety risk to a nearby school and business precinct. Local leaders have launched a petition to relocate Monash Health’s Needle and Syringe Program, claiming more needles are being discarded on footpaths, doorsteps and school grounds. The NSP based at Buckingham Avenue right across from St Joseph’s Primary School is within metres of Springvale Shopping Centre and popular Asian restaurants. A Monash Health spokesperson says its site has security personnel that check the site daily for
“dangerous objects and has appropriate sharps disposal bins” to keep the community safe. It has provided ongoing needle-and-syringe services in Springvale since 2005. But according to locals, the installation of the outdoor vending machine has infected Springvale with more syringe litter. “Every shop behind the shopping centre has syringes on the ground,” pharmacist Richard Lim says. Meanwhile, St Joseph’s Primary School has described a “disturbing increase in unsafe and distressing incidents.”
This includes cardboard overdose kits thrown over the fence into the Prep outdoor area, and users injecting drugs near the school office. Staff are reportedly forced out of classrooms to stop individuals from injecting near school grounds, as well as conducting daily “needle sweeps” on school grounds and streets. “These are not hypothetical concerns — they are real and ongoing, directly impacting the safety and wellbeing of our students, staff, and families,” the school stated in a recent letter. Springvale North Ward councillor Sean O’Reilly urged Monash Health to mitigate these
“collateral impacts”. “We have cheap food, cheap drugs and drug services.” The NSP operates through a range of different service providers such as pharmacies, youth organisations, community health services hospitals and drug treatment agencies. It is part of a $95 million State-wide Action Plan “to reduce drug harms and save lives” through pharmacotherapy services which is considered to be “life-changing” medical treatment to manage symptoms and withdrawal from opioid dependence. More on the story, turn to page 3
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