Pubdate: Wed, 11 May 2005
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: John Mackie
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?143 (Hepatitis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

HIV, HEPATITIS C SPREAD NORTH

Results Of Study Prompt Call For Action To Help Native Youth

The HIV and hepatitis C epidemic that has overwhelmed Vancouver's Downtown 
Eastside in recent years has spread to Prince George.

A new study on aboriginal youth 14 to 30 years old who use injection drugs 
has found that 7.9 per cent of the people in the study have HIV, compared 
with 17 per cent in Vancouver. Well over half the youth studied in Prince 
George -- 62.4 per cent -- have hepatitis C, compared with 57.1 per cent in 
Vancouver.

"There is very real concern about the situation in the north," said Dr. 
Patricia Spittal of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, who led the 
study.

"Vancouver has been [viewed] as an exception provincially, or even 
nationally in terms of drug-related harm, like a hot spot for HIV. But . . 
. when we look into other parts of the province, kids are using as much 
cocaine in Prince George as in Vancouver, and the hep C rates are as high 
in Prince George as in Vancouver among the aboriginal kids who are 
injecting drugs."

Mary Teegee is manager of community health and development of Carrier 
Sekani family services in Prince George, and a member of the Takla Lake 
First Nation north of the city. She was shocked at the numbers.

"We always knew there was an issue out there, but I think what's alarming 
are the rates. It's higher than what we had thought," she said.

"The study is statistics to a lot of people, but to us at home, it's our 
people, it's our youth, it's our relatives. We need immediate action."

Spittal called for all levels of government to deal with the problem before 
it gets worse. That means expanding "the harm reduction services that have 
been available and have proven useful in Vancouver," such as a needle 
exchange and methadone maintenance.

Spittal and Teegee both said any action should also look at the causes of 
the drug problem among aboriginal youth.

"I think we have to kind of understand the context in which this is 
happening among aboriginal youth," said Spittal.

"We have to understand that addiction and subsequent HIV infection can be 
understood as the direct consequences of poverty, colonization and the 
residential school system.

"So really the erosion of culture and identity is critical when we're 
understanding the impact of HIV in many communities in British Columbia."

Teegee said injection drug use is a problem in numerous communities in the 
North. Many people in smaller communities travel to Vancouver or Prince 
George, pick up a drug habit, then take it home with them.

The study tracked 532 aboriginal youth who take drugs, half from Vancouver, 
half from Prince George. Of those, 297 were injecting drugs. They are 
interviewed every six months.

The results of the study will be presented Saturday at a Canadian 
Association for HIV/AIDS Research conference in Vancouver.
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MAP posted-by: Beth