Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jun 2002
Source: Georgia Straight, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 The Georgia Straight
Contact:  http://www.straight.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1084
Author: Reed Eurchuk
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)

AGENCY ACCUSED OF MISREPRESENTING STUDY

The manager of the Vancouver Needle Exchange has sent an e-mail to health 
officials, police, and politicians claiming that "research" shows there is 
already an adequate supply of sterile needles on the Downtown Eastside. 
Judy McGuire's claim, however, has been disputed by AIDS researcher Evan 
Wood, whose work was cited in Maguire's e-mail.

McGuire, health outreach manager of the Downtown Eastside Youth Activities 
Society-which operates the Vancouver Needle Exchange-distributed the e-mail 
shortly after police shut down a dusk-to-dawn needle exchange (not 
affiliated with the VNE) operated by drug users at Main and Hastings 
streets. "The Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study [VIDUS] has noted that 
users say they have no problem accessing needles in the Downtown Eastside," 
McGuire claimed in the e-mail.

The Vancouver Courier later paraphrased McGuire, saying the Vancouver 
Needle Exchange's "mobile dispensing vans and remote needle exchanges have 
eliminated the need for a needle exchange alongside Carnegie Centre".

However, Wood, a researcher at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS 
at St. Paul's Hospital, told the Straight that he has no doubt about the 
need for the dusk-to-dawn needle exchange, which was operated by the 
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users. "Why would volunteers be out in the 
rain all winter, in the cold, giving out 1,200 needles per night if there 
wasn't a need?" Wood asked.

He said that the VIDUS research project found that difficulty in accessing 
sterile needles is a "major risk" that can lead to needle-sharing, which is 
the main cause of HIV and hepatitis C infections in the area.

Wood was coauthor of an article, based on VIDUS research and published this 
year in the International Journal of Drug Policy, that stated: "The risk 
factor most strongly associated with needle sharing wasShaving difficulty 
accessing needles." The authors also stated that the VIDUS research 
"identified restricted operating hours as a primary reason for difficulty 
accessing needles among all groups, even when the exchange vans continue to 
operate".

In addition, the article stated, " 'missing the van' was cited by a number 
of respondents as contributing to their difficulty in accessing the needles".

The DEYAS-operated Vancouver Needle Exchange at 221 Main Street is open 
until 8 p.m. The vans distribute needles throughout the night, travelling 
along specific routes in specific time periods.

In her e-mail, McGuire wrote that an increase in VANDU trading of needles 
was matched by a drop in the trading by DEYAS. She also claimed in the 
e-mail that "widening access" to needles in the Downtown Eastside "had no 
effect on overall needle distribution".

McGuire declined to answer questions regarding DEYAS's position on the 
closure of the VANDU site. She told the Straight that her e-mail reflected 
her understanding of what Wood had told her about his study.

Longtime VANDU activist Ann Livingston told the Straight that she wasn't 
happy about McGuire's e-mail, which went to municipal and provincial 
elected officials. "I am disturbed that our largest needle exchange 
continues to publicly misstate and misunderstand research findings so 
central to the development of policies that can stop the spread of 
disease," Livingston said.
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