hepatitis c

By Richard Elliott, Vancouver Sun

 

Re: Ideology, not reality, drives Tories' AIDS policy, July 24

 

Peter McKnight's column nicely showcased the flawed logic in the government's approach to HIV/AIDS, where relevant evidence is ignored.

 

One area not specifically addressed is the high rates of HIV and hepatitis C in Canada's prisons. We argue -with ample evidence to back it up -that providing clean needles and syringes in prisons would help curtail the spread of disease. More than 90 per cent of people in prison eventually return to society. Doesn't it make sense to ensure that the least possible number of them acquire infections while inside?

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By Jeremy Deutsch - Kamloops This Week

 

Behind the front counter of the ASK Wellness Centre on Tranquille Road is a yellow biohazard bucket.

 

The bucket is just one cog in the city’s needle-exchange program.

 

A heroin user in search of a fresh needle can simply bring in their used ones and discard them in the yellow box for a new set.

 

They may get a tutorial on how to properly use the needle, along with some information if they want to get help for their addiction.

 

The person then writes their initial on a sign-in sheet and goes on their way.

 

That sheet is handed over to the Interior Health Authority, which collects and records the data.

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CBC News

 

Abbotsford, B.C., city council has voted to reconsider its ban on needle exchanges and supervised injection sites because of the high rate of hepatitis C in the community.

 

The city, which is located in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver, has a zoning bylaw that prevents methadone treatment clinics, needle exchanges and supervised injection sites from setting up.

 

But the Fraser Health director of health promotion and prevention, David Portesi, is encouraging Abbotsford to look at harm reduction strategies for intravenous drug users.

 

Portesi says hepatitis C is a problem in the Fraser Valley, which has become known as a hot spot for drug and gang activity in recent years.

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By: Jen Skerritt, Winnipeg Free Press

 

The city's first-ever needle drop boxes were placed in six different location last week in an effort to stave off the number of dirty syringes strewn in parts of the Winnipeg's core.

 

Health officials say the drop boxes are a safe way to dispose of used needles and prevent accidental contact with contaminated syringes that could potentially spread Hepatitis B, C, and HIV. Public health experts can't say whether intravenus drug use is on the rise, but that certain neighbourhoods have continued to report finding used needles in specific locations.

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Abbotsford Mission Times

 

"It takes the whole community, from the user, everybody. We need good rapport with city hall, the police, the health authorities, the people. [As an addict], you can still care of yourself, but when you have roadblocks, it makes it a lot harder," he said.

 

With 70 to 80 per cent of intravenous drug users infected with Hep C, providing services such as clean needles can go a long way to help prevent the spread of blood-borne infections such as Hep C and HIV, said Dr. John Farley, an infectious diseases specialist who treats local patients.

 

"I think it's a very regressive step," he said about the city bylaw.

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By: Andre Picard, Globe and Mail

 

Hepatitis is the Rodney Dangerfield of the viral world.

 

With HIV-AIDS, pandemic influenza and even the common cold stealing the headlines, hepatitis doesn’t get any respect or attention.

 

Yet it is estimated that one in 12 people worldwide are infected with a chronic form of hepatitis, a potentially serious liver disease.

 

Hepatitis is a forgotten epidemic, one whose relentless spread has been greatly facilitated by a combination of ignorance, indifference and stigma.

 

So one of the most effective tools we have to combat this epidemic is education.

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Editorial: Abbotsford News

 

Abbotsford has one of the highest rates of hepatitis C in the province.

 

One of the most common ways hep C is contracted is through the use of shared needles by drug users.

 

This city has a zoning bylaw that prohibits “harm reduction” facilities such as safe injection sites and needle exchanges.

 

Could there be a correlation between those facts?

 

Dr. John Farley, a local infectious disease specialist, would likely say yes.

 

He was among speakers at a rally in Abbotsford Tuesday which focused attention on this city’s restrictive policies relating to the spread of disease through shared needles.

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By Toby Gorman - Nanaimo News Bulletin

 

A controversial harm reduction strategy will go ahead in Nanaimo, this time with city council’s consultation.

 

The Vancouver Island Health Authority’s original foray into providing safer tools for drug users three years ago was met with outrage from both council and neighbourhood groups because of a lack of consultation.

 

This time, VIHA will use several fixed sites in areas known to be havens for drug users instead of a mobile van.

 

Lorna Medd, a medical health officer with VIHA, spoke to city council Monday, though neighbourhood groups continue to look in from the outside where consultation is concerned.

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By Ann Silversides, Rabble.ca

 

In April, the Corrections Service of Canada released a report which revealed considerably higher rates of HIV infections among inmates in federal prisons than had been previously officially acknowledged. Indeed, the reported rate of 4.6 per cent, based on a 2007 survey of prisoners, was more than twice the previous official estimates, and the reported rate of hepatitis C -- a staggering 31 per cent of prisoners -- was also higher.

 

'If a town of that size had rates like these, it would be treated like a public health emergency,' says Seth Clarke, federal community development co-ordinator with the Prisoners' HIV/AIDS Support Action Network.

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By ROB TRIPP, THE WHIG-STANDARD

 

An "extraordinary" one-year increase in the percentage of federal convicts with the virus that causes AIDS may signal a crisis is at hand, warns a national expert on infectious diseases behind bars.

 

"What they may be seeing is in fact the explosive spread that we've warned them about for years," Dr. Peter Ford, a retired Queen's University professor told the Whig-Standard,in an interview Thursday.

 

Newly released findings from a Correctional Service Canada study show that the rate of HIV infection appears to have nearly tripled in one year, from 2006 to 2007, when compared to other publicly available figures.

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