The introduction of a programme which aims to reduce harm for people taking drugs intravenously is "good news", a provider says. The Te Waipounamu South Island Needle Exchange Programme was officially launched in Invercargill last week. Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey attended the event. The government-funded programme is being delivered by the Te Waipounamu Collective, a partnership between Ngā Kete Mātauranga Pounamu Trust, Invercargill, He Waka Tapu, Christchurch, Poutini Waiora, the West Coast and Te Piki Oranga, Nelson. Ngā Kete Mātauranga Pounamu Trust chief executive Tracey Wright-Tawha said the collective aimed to improve access to needles through services including exchange outlets, online ordering, mobile outreach options and vending machines. "What we’re here to do, is to make sure that people who inject drugs have access to clean equipment and it reduces the potential for sharing needles or harm that can be caused by doing that through hepatitis C and other types of infection.…