Pubdate: Fri, 25 Jul 2008
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2008 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n683/a02.html
Authors: Thomas Kerr, Julio Montaner and Evan Wood

SPEAKING OF HARM REDUCTION

We are responding to Margaret Wente's attack on the evaluation of 
Vancouver's supervised injection facility. Contrary to her suggestion 
that amateur Boy Scouts conducted the research, more than 30 people 
have co-authored this body of work, including university-based 
researchers from the U.S., U.K. and Australia. Furthermore, the 
methodology of the evaluation was externally peer reviewed and published.

When studies were completed, we sought publication in the top medical 
journals, and only after a study passed the test of anonymous expert 
review and was published did we discuss the work publicly. To date, 
more than 25 studies have been published in journals such as The New 
England Journal of Medicine.

Ms. Wente wrongly implied that our team has been unwilling to share 
data derived from Insite's evaluation. Consistent with academic 
convention, most raw data are available in tabular format in the 
published articles. We also recently shared raw data with the federal 
government's Expert Advisory Committee on Supervised Injection Site 
Research, and researchers from the University of Toronto were given 
unfettered access to data to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of Insite.

Thomas Kerr and Julio Montaner and Evan Wood

B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

Vancouver
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake