Canada: Mobile Needle Exchange Needed, Survey Suggests

A survey by the East Kootenay Addiction Services Society has found 76 percent of local intravenous drug users (IDUs) are not using its public needle exchange program (NEP).

"They were really up-front and honest about the service they were getting or not getting," said Deb Summers, a society program coordinator who assisted with the survey. Among those surveyed, 89 percent desired a different NEP approach. "The most favored method would be for a mobile needle exchange, like the one in West Kootenay," she said.

West Kootenay's mobile NEP exchange distributed 127,000 needles in 2005-2006, compared with 22,000 distributed by East Kootenay, said Dean Nicholson, administrator for East Kootenay addiction services. The regions have similar IDU populations, he said.

Summers surveyed 39 IDUs, interviewing them in depth. She also went through the processes an IDU needed to complete in East Kootenay to access NEP services. "If I was in withdrawal or was sick, it would be a challenge," she said.

About 50 percent of the IDUs were hepatitis C-infected, and 5 percent were HIV-positive, said Nicholson. Needles were shared by 45 percent of respondents, and 38 percent discarded their needles with garbage. Given these health risks, the $60,000 Canadian ($50,773 U.S.) needed to run West Kootenay's mobile NEP annually seems reasonable, said Nicholson. He and Summers hope to discuss the survey and NEP strategies with public health officials.

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