NEW NEEDLES FOR DOWNTOWN DRUG USERS

Health officials hope a second needle exchange program in Penticton will
reach out to downtown-area drug users.

Plans call for a public health nurse to work out of the Orchard Avenue
Penticton Outreach Centre two hours a week on a three-month trial basis,
said Alison Payne, Interior Health Authority (IHA) spokesperson.

"The (centre) is serving a group of people who are in need of nutrition and
there is a very good chance they are also in need of other health-care
services that they are not getting," she said.

Among the services the trial will offer, is the exchange of dirty needles
for clean ones, said Payne. The downtown location may better meet the needs
of many of the city's drug users, she said, than the current location at
the Penticton Health Centre at 740 Carmi Ave. "It is removed from the
population that we need to serve and that population does not usually go to
the health unit," she said.

Last year, 85 people received 35,000 needles at that location, which will
continue to serve clients during the downtown trial, she said.

While the used needle return rate was over 90 per cent, the program is not
reaching everybody because its location is not easily accessible.

"That (needle exchange) is not the focus of the trial," she said. "But they
will have (needles) with them because they know that will probably come up."

The focus is on assessing the health-care needs of those using the centre,
Payne said. Health officials will use information gathered during the trial
( its planned start date coincides with a flu clinic scheduled for
mid-October at the centre) to assess whether a more comprehensive program
including mental health and addiction services, is needed, said Payne.

Officials also hope to determine whether Penticton needs a "street" nurse
and a permanent second needle exchange program location. Payne was quick to
note that not all of those who access the Penticton Outreach Centre's
services are drug users.

And, she said, a needle exchange program is not the same as a
safe-injection site where drugs are used in the presence of health-care
providers without the fear of police action, said Payne. The goal of a
needle exchange is to "mitigate" risks connected to intravenous drug use
such as the spread of HIV-AIDS and Hepatitis, said Payne.

Health officials are still trying to secure permission from several groups
to launch the trial program, Payne said.

They include the board of St. Saviour's Anglican Church N which manages the
Penticton Outreach Centre and the Soupetaria Society N the centre's largest
user, said Payne.

Payne hopes the public gets behind the program that will assist members of
society some want to forget.

"I hope that there is no opposition to this idea because it is about
delivering health care to a group who is currently not getting it," she said.