H17

The purpose of H17 is harm reduction: to reduce the physical, psychological, and social consequences that drug use entails. It is about saving lives, preventing overdoses, limiting the spread of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis, and at the same time reducing insecurity in public spaces. Users are met with respect and without requirements to be in treatment. Here, there is room to be who you are.

The staff in H17 consists of an interdisciplinary team of nurses, social and health care assistants, ambulance paramedics, social workers, and educators. They provide acute first aid, advise on safe drug use, and build bridges to treatment and social support, when and if the user wishes it.

H17 offers clean injection and smoking-related equipment to users, as well as a safe and controlled environment to ingest their illegal drugs.

The drug consumption room has been an essential part of the overall overdose effort in Vesterbro and has contributed significantly to the more than 1,400 overdose treatments that have been carried out in the drug consumption rooms in Vesterbro since 2012.

Since the first drug consumption room opened in Vesterbro, more than three million drug injections have been administered in the district’s drug consumption rooms.

It is financed by the Municipality of Copenhagen and is part of the overdose prevention efforts in Copenhagen.