NEEDLE-EXCHANGE PROGRAM AWAITS FEDERAL DRUG STRATEGY

About 70,000 clean syringes and needles are given to intravenous
drug users in Waterloo Region every year in an effort to prevent the
spread of diseases among that group.

But the new national drug strategy expected from the federal
government next week will not offer any extra funding for such
harm-reduction programs as the needle-exchange operation overseen by
the region's public health department.

The needle exchange in this region plays an important role in
preventing the spread of viruses causing AIDS, hepatitis B and
hepatitis C, said Karen Verhoeve of the region's public health department.

When drug users share needles they can quickly transmit deadly
viruses. Hepatitis C, which destroys the liver, is 10 times more
infectious than HIV.

Harm-reduction programs, such as the needle exchange, are not
judgmental. Nobody tells addicts they must quit to get help. The
main objective is to provide intravenous drug users with the gear to
keep them safe from diseases spread through sharing dirty needles.

In 1995, the region's public health department started the
needle-exchange program. Intravenous drug users brought in used
needles, and were given clean ones, sterile swabs and distilled
water. They are also provided with a clean cooker -- a container
where drugs are mixed with water and heated in preparation for injection.

In 2006, public health handed out about 4,500 needles.

But after partnering with two community-based agencies -- the
Bridges Shelter in Cambridge and the AIDS Committee of Cambridge
Kitchener Waterloo and Area, based in downtown Kitchener, the number
of clean syringes given out increased steadily to the current level
of 70,000 annually.

Based on the data Verhoeve collects, the program appears to be
working when it comes to preventing the spread of HIV.

In 2006, there were 20 new cases of HIV reported in Waterloo Region,
but none were related to intravenous drug use. It's been the same
story for the past five years.

But the trends for hepatitis C are not as encouraging.

HEPATITIS C CASES RISING

Between 1995 and 2005 1,537 new cases of hepatitis C were reported
to regional public health, and about 21 per cent of those people
identified intravenous drug use as the their major risk factor.

But Verhoeve and other public health officials believe as many as 50
to 70 per cent of new hep C cases are a result of intravenous drug
users sharing dirty needles.

An estimated 1,175 intravenous drug users live in this region, and
it's believed 55 per cent of them are infected with the virus
causing hepatitis C.

Sharing needles, or sharing drug-preparation equipment such as
cookers, spoons, filters and rinse water, can easily transmit that
virus among intravenous drug users.

Hepatitis C is the most commonly acquired infection from injection
drug use. As it is 10 to 15 times more infectious than HIV through
blood contact, a single injection with a contaminated needle may
result in transmission of the infection, according to a public health report.

And that's why harm-reduction programs such as the needle exchange
are so important, said Teena Scofield, the executive director of the
region's AIDS committee.

"Addiction is a disease, not a choice," Scofield said.

Her agency distributes about 48,000 clean needles and safe-injection
kits a year.

"It's continually building, we regularly have new people," Scofield said.

She said it is short-sighted for the federal government not to put
more money into harm-reduction programs.

"I'm very disappointed," Scofield said.

In the cold, objective world of health-care economics, each new case
of HIV/AIDS costs the system about $500,000.

"Even if you disagree with the morality of it, it saves money in the
end," Scofield said of needle-exchange programs.

"Addiction is a disease and we have a responsibility to provide
these services to people in our community."

Addicts using the needle-exchange program can drop off dirty
syringes at 10 locations around the region. This reduces the number
of dirty needles thrown away on streets, lanes and parks.

As an outreach worker, Rob Smith has walked some of the toughest,
drug-rich streets in the country -- Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
These days Smith works as a street-based outreach worker in downtown
Kitchener, focusing on the homeless or people at risk of homelessness.

WINNING TRUST

He encourages intravenous drug users to use the needle exchange.
Often that is the first step in winning the person's trust, and
establishing a relationship that leads to requests for medical
treatment, drug rehabilitation or help navigating the social
services bureaucracy.

"I think they are vital," Smith said of harm-reduction initiatives.

"If you are working with any folks who are at risk you need to
demonstrate that you care enough about them to be healthy, and help
them get something they need to be healthy," Smith said.

The federal Tories' new national drug strategy is scheduled to be
announced in the coming days.