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After years pushing for safe drug-injection programs in Canadian jails, health advocates say mounting evidence and a new government in Ottawa present a chance to finally make it happen.
In a report published Wednesday, researchers in Toronto provide a framework for the introduction of what they call “prison-based needle and syringe programs” in Canada — programs that the authors argue are sorely needed in provincial and federal jails to address levels of HIV and hepatitis C infections that are “astronomically” high compared with those in the general population. (Read the Report Here, PDF)
“There’s lots of research to demonstrate how effective they are, and this (new report) is meant to show that they can be effective in Canada as well,” said Sandra Ka Hon Chu, director of research and advocacy for the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, who contributed to the report.