PROVINCE SHOULD PICK UP TAB FOR NEEDLES: DOLAN

Bob Dolan wants to make a point - all costs associated with supplying
syringes to injection drug users should be paid for by the province,
not the local health unit.

Other health unit board members agreed and they decided to send a
letter to the Ministry of Health to that effect.

The subject came up at the health unit's monthly board meeting this
week when family health manager Bill Sherlock presented a report on
injection drug users, of which there are an estimated 300 in Hastings
and Prince Edward counties.

They are supplied with needles and other drug paraphernalia free
because reusing the items can lead to the spread of HIV, Hepatitis C
and other blood-borne illnesses.

It costs 43 cents to supply the drug paraphernalia, which the Ministry
of Health pays, and 10 cents for the syringe, paid for by the health
unit.

But it costs an estimated $1.3 million to care for an HIV infected
person for his lifespan, Sherlock said.

"There's a huge cost savings," he told board members.

That savings was the ammunition Dolan needed to ask the ministry to
pay for the needles and any Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health
Unit staff expenses associated with administering the needle exchange
program. The health unit distributed 60,000 needles last year - cost
$6,000 - through 13 pharmacies in the two counties.

There is no doubt the program has reduced the number of cases of HIV,
Sherlock said.

When the needle exchange program was in its infancy 10 years ago,
Sherlock said for every 100 injection drug users, 30 contracted the
disease. Today, the number is 14 out of 100, proof that the exchange
program is saving lives and money, he said.

"I think it's had a huge impact," Sherlock said.

In an interview Thursday, Sherlock said some people might get the
impression that supplying needles, cookers (used as a crucible to heat
and dilute the drugs), filters and other materials is encouraging drug
use.

But studies of needle exchange programs in Canada, the United States
and Australia have shown that it does not increase drug use, he said.

The program also sees used syringes returned rather than dropped in
parks and other areas where they may be found by children.

When users go to get new needles, they are encouraged to return the
old ones for disposal, Sherlock said.

As well, the program helps prevent the drug users from going
"underground" and brings them in contact with a pharmacist who can
then tell them help is available if they want to get off the drugs or
need counselling, he said.

Medical officer of health Dr. Richard Schabas said HIV through
injection drug use is a "huge problem" in Russia where the needle
exchange program is not in effect.

Everything points to the fact the needle exchange program is working
to society's advantage, he said.

"This is a necessary health program," Schabas said.

[sidebar]

LEARNING THE LINGO

When health unit board members were told of the injection drug
program, many had trouble deciphering the terms used to describe drug
paraphernalia. Here's some of the common terms and what they mean:

Cooker - A spoon-like apparatus, but deeper, used for mixing the drug
with water and heating the drug solution;

Acidifier - Solution added to insoluble drugs to convert them to
water-soluble and injectable form. Usually lemon juice or vinegar.

Mixing and rinse water - Dissolves drugs in powder, solid or tablet
form.

Filters, cottons - Placed on the tips of needles when withdrawing the
drug from the cooker. Often a cigarette filter or tampon, it prevents
undissolved particles of the drug and bacteria from entering the vein.

Most of the materials can spread diseases if reused, which is often
the case.

Commonly injected drugs, running from most popular to least popular.
The percentages do not add up to 100 per cent because users - 3,031
surveyed in seven Canadian cities and published in 2006 - injected
more than one kind of drug at different times: cocaine (77.5 per
cent), morphine (45.9 per cent), dilaudid, similar to morphine (32.9
per cent), heroin (27.6 per cent), crack (31.9 per cent).