[homeles_ot-l] City of Ottawa Cancellation of Safer Inhalation Program

[J.J (Jay) Koornstra]

PLEASE POST AND DISTRIBUTE

 

For immediate release:  

 

Ottawa, July 13, 2007

 

City Council irresponsible cancelling distribution of Safer Crack Pipe Kits.

 

Bruce House, Ottawa’s only supportive housing organization providing care
and support to people with HIV/AIDS is dismayed by the decision of Ottawa
City Council to discontinue the City’s Safe Inhalation Program.

 

The agency’s experience and the empirical data collected by the city and by
the University of Ottawa study demonstrate that harm reduction programs save
lives.  Current estimates are that approximately 12 new HIV infections
annually were averted by the now discontinued Safe Inhalation Program.   The
city’s own Medical Officer of Health maintains that the cost of treating a
new case of HIV infection is about $600,000.  

 

For a city boasting to be run like a business, it makes no business sense
saving approximately $8,250 by cancelling the program,  which will
ultimately result in hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayers money to
be spent on the treatment and care services for those new HIV and/or Hep C
infected individuals.  This doesn’t even begin to address the real cost to
human lives.

 

Cancelling valuable programs such as this will do nothing to alleviate the
suffering of the residents of Sandy Hill many of whom support the
cancellation of such programs.  The cancellation of the program will not
reduce the frustration of neighbourhood residents who will continue to find
evidence of addiction drug use on their sidewalks and porches.  People will
continue to smoke crack.  However, instead of finding uncontaminated glass
pipes the community will find coke cans and other innocuous items used as
pipes that now will be harbouring blood borne infections such as HIV and
Hepatitis C.

 

 Addict’s choice of location has nothing to do with the City of Ottawa’s
Program which was delivered at many locations across the City of Ottawa.
Addicts will use drugs wherever they find themselves and where other
ancillary services are provided.  Long term solutions must be found to the
co-existence of services and neighbourhoods.  

 

Before this regrettable cancellation, addicts who were ready to seek help
for their addictions benefited by face to face encounters with street
outreach workers who could connect them to available services.  This latest
move will put more distance between qualified outreach workers and clients
who could benefit from services. 

 

Bruce House, which has provided service in Ottawa for nearly 20 years,
remains lamentably under funded.  This latest move by City Council will add
to our already overburdened waiting list. Will Council vote to fund agencies
such as Bruce House to provide the costly care and treatment services for
the dozen or more people annually who are newly infected with HIV or Hep C
as a result of cancelling a proven prevention program?  Or will council
re-instate a program and allow our experience and qualified community
agencies like the AIDS Committee of Ottawa and the various Community Health
Centres to continue a program that contributes to the overall health and
welfare of our entire city.  We remind city councilors that in matters of
public health they must forgo their political agendas and embrace their role
as Ottawa’s public board of health.  We implore council to immediately
reinstate this program proven to directly and indirectly protect the health
of our city.  

 

- 30 -

For more information:

J.J. (Jay) Koornstra,                                       or
Richard Naster

Executive Director, Bruce House                               Transition
House Program Team Leader

613-729-0911 Ext. 24
613-729-0911 Ext. 29                         613-720-9618 Cell
Richard at brucehouse.org 

ed at brucehouse.org 

 

 

J.J. (Jay) Koornstra

Executive Director

251 Bank Street, Suite 402

Ottawa, ON  K2P 1X3

Tel:  613.729.0911 Ext. 24

Fax: 613.729.0959

Email:  jay at brucehouse.org 

URL:    http://www.brucehouse.org <http://www.brucehouse.org/> 

 

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