Canada: Trust an Issue as Prince Edward Island Takes Over Needle Exchange

The Prince Edward Island government on April 1 will take over operations of the province's needle-exchange program (NEP), which has been run for the last five years by AIDS PEI.

The NEP distributes about 500 needles a week. It has been in a cash crunch since December, when AIDS PEI announced it had run out of money. The city of Charlottetown and the provincial government supplied some short-term funding, but NEP officials had been hoping for a $40,000-$50,000 grant (US $32,280-$40,342) to pay for a full-time program coordinator. On March 20, the government told AIDS PEI that the province would assume responsibility for the NEP.

"To be honest, I was taken aback," said Mark Hanlon, AIDS PEI's executive director. "I was not expecting it. I thought at this point, the minister would certainly have stepped up and provided AIDS PEI with some funding, at least to bring the government up to code, so to speak, with other provinces across Canada. That didn't happen."

The Prince Edward Island government decided it could manage the NEP more efficiently, and it plans to add a distribution point in Summerside.

"What happens to those clients who don't trust the government and wouldn't feel comfortable?" Hanlon asked. "Are they going to start sharing syringes again?"

Nevertheless, Hanlon pledged his support for encouraging injection drug users to continue utilizing the NEP during the transition. The exact locations and hours of operations are still being worked out.

Back to other news for March 2009