PUBLIC HEALTH PROFILE SHOWS DUNCAN DRUG USERS AT INCREASING
RISK

Many mid-Island drug users are increasing their risk of infection with
hepatitis C and HIV by sharing needles and pipes, according to a
recent survey.

The I-Track survey, a national, disease monitoring program implemented
by the Public Health Agency of Canada, collected information from
people on the central and North Island regions who inject drugs for
the first time in the fall of 2008.

Thirty-four Duncan users users were interviewed, along with 64 from
Nanaimo and 26 from Port Alberni.

The questionnaire covered drug use and injection behaviours, sexual
behaviours, HIV and hepatitis C testing and care and
demographics.

The survey found that nearly three-quarters of mid Island participants
are infected with hepatitis C and more than one-third of them share
used needles or pipes.

Nearly six per cent of Nanaimo respondents are HIV positive and 72 per
cent have hepatitis C.

Central Island respondents were also more likely to share used pipes
and needles and inject or smoke drugs on the streets than North Island
respondents.

"This gives us a picture of injection drug use that we simply did not
have before," said Dr. Lorna Medd, central Island medical health
officer with the Vancouver Island Health Authority.

The gap between those infected with hepatitis C and those with HIV is
an opportunity for the health authority to provide central Island
users with better access to harm reduction services to prevent further
infections, she said.

In the south Island, HIV infection rates are 12 to 15 per cent of
survey respondents and research conducted by the B.C. Centre for
Disease Control indicates that HIV infections start to catch up with
hep C numbers over time.

"The people who are engaging in the risky behaviours are already
hepatitis C positive and are at risk of contracting HIV," said Medd.
"There's a window of opportunity here to prevent some people from
getting HIV."

Nanaimo has a fixed needle exchange site, Harris House Health Clinic
on Franklyn Street, but safe supplies are not always easy to obtain,
said Medd.

"The support could certainly be expanded with important, positive
consequences," she said. "In terms of human suffering and cost to the
health-care system, they're very important. An ounce of prevention is
worth several pounds of cure in this example."

About 60 per cent of respondents were male and about half of the
respondents had never finished high school. The mean age of
respondents was 40.