ALLOW NEEDLE EXCHANGE SUMMER HOME ON PANDORA

Re "Victoria Needle Exchange Expected to Stay Mobile" (News, June
11)

It is a travesty that Victoria will have no fixed-site needle exchange
for at least a year. It is urgent that VIHA and the City of Victoria
take immediate action to find a new location for the needle exchange.
Experts agree the mobile service alone will not do the job, and will
in fact risk higher rates of HIV infection and more needles in our
parks and streets.

VIHA bears a lot of the blame here. The secretive approach to the
proposed Pandora site was totally unacceptable. Residents need to have
input into decisions that affect their neighbourhoods.

But consultation should not become an excuse for inaction in the face
of an urgent public health crisis. I suspect if we were dealing with a
West Nile epidemic in Rockland or Fairfield, VIHA would not wait a
year to act to address this issue.

I would hope that VIHA could at least allow the needle exchange to use
Pandora Street on a trial basis during the summer when school is out.
If local authorities are not prepared to act, it will be up to the
provincial Ministry of Health to step in and establish a fixed-site
needle exchange, in order to ensure that lives are not lost due to
lack of leadership and compassion.

Erik Kaye

Victoria