CSDP Blog

More research demonstrates the high importance of Insite, a harm reduction medical agency for injection drug users. According to The Globe and Mail October 6, 2008 article, ("Insite Saves Two To 12 Lives A Year, Study Says") "Vancouver's supervised injection site, where addicts can use illegal drugs in a clean, staffed medical clinic, prevents two to 12 overdose deaths a year, according to a new research study. Researchers arrived at their findings after evaluating more than 1,000 overdoses over a four-year period at Vancouver's Insite clinic. Of the 1,004 overdoses recorded at the clinic between 2004 and 2008, 453 addicts suffered potentially fatal overdoses, the researchers said. Had these overdoses occurred outside the clinic, between two and 12 of the addicts would have died each year, the study concluded. It was written by researchers at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS."

The article states, "The injection site, which has the support of British Columbia politicians and the Vancouver police, has been the target of criticism by the federal Conservative government. In August, Health Minister Tony Clement questioned the clinic's usefulness, saying a government research panel concluded that the injection site has saved - on average - one life a year since it opened in 2003. Mr. Clement said the clinic's $3-million annual budget would be better spent funding drug treatment centres."

The article adds, "One of the study's authors, Thomas Kerr, said its large range of between two and 12 lives saved was unavoidable because it's hard to put a figure on an event that has not occurred. Researchers studied the death rates from overdoses in other jurisdictions in Canada, the United States, Australia and England, and arrived at a range of rates, said Dr. Kerr, who teaches medicine at the University of British Columbia. Still, Dr. Kerr said he's sure that that the injection site saves at least a dozen lives per year."