NOT BROKEN, JUST BROKE

On April 1, a program that for five years literally helped save lives
of injection drug users on the Island will cease to exist.

AIDS P.E.I. is getting out of the needle exchange program.

It's not by choice; the non-profit organization can't afford to keep
it going.

AIDS P.E.I. approached the Province for $40,000 to defray program
costs and to hire a full-time administrator. The request was denied.

Now, the few remaining syringe kits are being handed out and
officials at AIDS P.E.I. are left with the task of informing clients
they'll have to go elsewhere for clean, safe needles.

AIDS P.E.I. must be applauded for carrying the program this long with
little outside help.

With the exchange, AIDS P.E.I. helped stop the spread of diseases
such as AIDS and hepatitis C by handing out sterile syringes, no
questions asked.

AIDS P.E.I. didn't preach treatment to the injection drug users,
though information on available addiction services was provided on
request.

There was a trust forged between users and AIDS P.E.I., one, it
fears, won't be fostered by those administering a government-run program.

Rather than fund the exchange already in place, government is
preparing to start up its own program. Those currently working within
Health will run the program with no new government money. And a
location and hours of operation have yet to be announced.

Government has assured the program will operate five days a week and
provide anonymity to users.

It's also guaranteed the new exchange will be up and running by April
1, a lofty goal considering the deadline is just days away.

While government is to be commended for continuing the program, a
question remains: Why couldn't it simply have funded the current program.

As the old saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix
it.

And from all indications, AIDS P.E.I.'s exchange wasn't broken, just
broke.

Does the Province feel it will be able to duplicate what was being
offered? And does it believe it can operate the program with no new
money?

Assurances have been made by government that it's "going to do the
best they can to keep a good program going".

If that's true, maybe government should have left the program in the
hands of those who've made it a success and truly kept a good program
going.