Pubdate: Fri, 12 Nov 2010
Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2010 Nanaimo Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608
Author: Dustin Walker

VIHA CAUTIOUSLY EXPANDS DISTRIBUTION OF SAFE DRUG KITS

Clean needles, condoms and mouthpieces for crack pipes are now being 
distributed at a handful of front-line health centres in the region 
as the Vancouver Island Health Authority takes a "cautious approach" 
to phasing in a harm reduction strategy.

VIHA announced earlier this year that the supplies, which also 
include items such as alcohol swabs and lubrication, will eventually 
be distributed from 60 centres across the Island as part of a plan to 
reduce the spread of disease among drug users. Sites will include 
public health clinics, outpatient offices and mental health and 
addictions offices.

The first phase of the plan, funded through the B.C. Centre for 
Disease Control, involves a total of 10 health centres offering the 
items with four locations in the south-Island, three in the 
mid-Island and three in the north-Island areas. Six of the centres 
began distributing the supplies this fall, including two in the 
Central Island region, while three more are expected to do so later this month.

The health authority won't make public the location of these 
"secondary distribution sites" at the request of the operators, said 
Audrey Shaw, regional manger of communicative disease services. She 
said they were worried about media filming people coming in and out 
of the centres, which could potentially violate their privacy. They 
also didn't want to be flooded by requests for the supplies.

"These sites are mainly set up for clients who access those sites for 
other reasons, so they don't want to be overwhelmed by other clients 
as well," said Shaw.

She said VIHA is confident that the location of the centres offering 
the supplies will spread by word of mouth.

The health authority said feedback from the sites so far have been 
positive, but starting with a smaller group of health centres allows 
VIHA to mitigate any issues before the program is expanded.

"We're going slowly because we think they are going to be low-key 
sites, there's not going to be any of the issues that might be of 
concern to the larger primary sites. But we want to make sure we're 
not just assuming something," said Shaw.

Harm reduction supplies are already available at some health centres 
on the Island, including the Harris House Health Clinic in Nanaimo.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart