NEEDLE EXCHANGE FAILURE

It all seemed tremendously urgent back in January when concerns about
the needle exchange's effects on the Cormorant Street neighbourhood
came to the boil.

Everyone -- health officials, police, city council, the business
community, AIDS Vancouver Island -- came together and agreed the
location was unsuitable and something had to be done. Everyone
professed a great desire to fix the problem.

Or almost everyone. The Vancouver Island Health Authority,
responsible for addiction services, was conspicuously absent.

Moving the needle exchange to a more appropriate location and
facility would cost more money. VIHA was in fact proposing to cut
funding for AIDS services in the capital region by one-third.

Still, given the commitment by a broad spectrum of the community's
leaders to fix this obvious problem -- given their acknowledgment
that the situation was unbearable -- you would have expected some action.

But no. The needle exchange is still in the same unsuitable location,
with no realistic plan to move. Neighbours continue to be pained by
the behaviour of a relatively small but disruptive group of people
who use the exchange.

And VIHA's position on funding more appropriate facilities for this
important public health service remains a mystery.

Needle exchanges save lives and money. They reduce the practice of
sharing needles, which in turn slows the spread of HIV and hep C
infections. They provide a place to connect people with needed services.

That's why the community leaders promised action.

The solutions to our street issues, which are largely fuelled by
addictions, are not complex.

We need to identify problems, like the inappropriate location for the
needle exchange, and then fix them. There will be difficulties and
costs, but none are insurmountable.

What's missing, it appears, is the will. How else to explain the
failure to make real progress on this issue, which everyone agreed
should be a priority?