Environmental Scan of Injection Drug Use, Related Infectious Diseases, High-risk Behaviours, and Relevant Programming in Atlantic Canada. 2006.

By San Patten
127 pages
...html
...download full report (606 KB)

Description

This comprehensive report examines injection drug use and related issues in Atlantic Canada. It describes the extent of injection drug use and the problems associated with it; identifies characteristics and trends among sub-populations and provinces; and examines the programs, services, and policy responses targeted to people who inject drugs. The information in the report was obtained from pre-existing reports and data sources as well as numerous interviews with both key informants and injection drug users in the four Atlantic provinces.

The report concludes that the Atlantic region has made significant progress with respect to provincial and regional initiatives to address harms associated with injection drug use. Provincial governments, health authorities, and community-based organizations are together providing a wide variety of addictions services from substance abuse prevention to rehabilitation. Atlantic Canada also has a strong research infrastructure, with major centres leading the field in examining addictions and risk behaviours associated with HIV and hepatitis C. Progress has been made in understanding more about the needs of people who inject drugs, largely due to the needs assessment efforts of several community-based organizations in the region.

At the same time, injection drug use remains a serious issue in Atlantic Canada, as do many of the social and economic inequities underlying drug use. Many barriers to harm reduction persist in many parts of the region.

The report identifies trends and gaps, in both programs and policies, that could inform future planning in areas such as corrections, addiction treatment, substance abuse prevention, community outreach and needle exchange programs, primary and specialized services, and research and knowledge sharing.

The report of the environmental scan is intended for a mixed audience, including the Public Health Agency of Canada which intends to use the document to guide future efforts, as well as a broad range of other users, from government policy makers to grass-roots community-based organizations.

Credits

Environmental Scan of Injection Drug Use, Related Infectious Diseases, High-risk Behaviours, and Relevant Programming in Atlantic Canada was produced by San Patten for the Atlantic Regional Office of the Public Health Agency of Canada. Pyra Consulting coordinated the data collection and laid the groundwork for the report.

Availability

This publication is available for download in English and French in both html and pdf formats. To open the pdf file you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader.

... html English		... pdf English (606 KB)
... html French		... pdf French (818 KB)

For more information, contact:

Public Health Agency of Canada
Suite 1525, 15th Floor, Maritime Centre
1505 Barrington Street
Halifax, NS B3J 3Y6
Tel: (902) 426-2700
Fax: (902) 426-9689
E-mail: atlantic-atlantique@phac-aspc.gc.ca