MEDICAL OFFICERS SEEK MORE INJECTION SITES

Battling both the federal government and drug problems in their
communities, B.C.'s medical health officers have quietly passed a
resolution asking all health authorities to develop supervised
injection sites where needed.

The resolution, passed at the officers' biannual council meeting in
Prince Rupert and posted publicly last week, recommends that
supervised injection sites should "now evolve from a current single
research project into being integrated into community primary-care
settings, addictions services, hospitals and other health care
services" everywhere in the province.

The suggestion is controversial. While many health workers and social
advocates support injection sites as a way to prevent HIV and
hepatitis C infections or drug overdoses associated with
injection-drug use, critics say the sites send a dangerous message
that it's okay to keep using drugs.

At the same time, Health Minister George Abbott confirmed to The
Globe and Mail this week that the province will intervene in the
court case between the federal government and advocates for InSite,
the current injection site in the Downtown Eastside. Last year, Mr.
Justice Ian Pitfield of the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that the site is
an important health service and is protected by the Canadian Charter
of Rights and Freedoms, a decision the federal government is appealing.

Mr. Abbott sent a statement to The Globe, saying: "Our government
appreciates the role of the Health Officers Council of British
Columbia in advocating for preventative health services for British
Columbians. We believe InSite is an important part of the continuum
of care and look forward to a positive response from the courts so we
can consider the further use of this service to British Columbia's
health care system."

Medical health officers say they passed their resolution partly to
make it clear where they stand in the federal appeal case, and partly
because they are grappling with a skyrocketing rate of injection-drug
use and infections in some B.C. communities, especially in the north.

"I don't understand why the federal government is appealing this
decision, but we just wanted to say that many of us have looked at
the science and it does have benefits," said Roland Guasparini, the
chief medical officer for the Fraser Health Authority. "We don't want
the public to be confused."

Dr. Guasparini said he doesn't think a site would be considered in
his health region currently, because it is trying to get other
services in place to deal with drug addiction. Surrey is seeking
funding for a sobering centre, for example, that can handle people
with addiction problems who now overwhelm emergency wards. As well,
he said, the region doesn't have the kind of street scene Vancouver
does, so an injection site would not be effective in preventing overdoses.

However, medical health officers in northern regions of B.C. are
seeing an alarming spike in injection-drug use and infections.

David Bowering, the chief medical health officer for the Northern
Health Authority that geographically covers 63 per cent of B.C., said
there is no immediate recommendation for an injection site, but it is
something Prince George and other northern communities might have to consider.

Dr. Bowering said there has been a steep increase in HIV and
hepatitis C infections in Prince George in the past five years,
especially among the native population. That city's needle exchange
now gives out 100,000 needles a year.

"We're seeing a pattern in Prince George that's reminiscent of what
happened in the Downtown Eastside in the '90s," Dr. Bowering said.
The Downtown Eastside's infection rate was so high then that it
exceeded that of some Third World countries and was labelled an
epidemic. It has since dropped and levelled off.