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Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users

Health Emergency 2003: The Spread of Drug-Related AIDS and Hepatitis C Among African Americans and Latinos

Publication type: 
Research Paper / Project Report
Agency: 
Dogwood Centre, New Jersey
Sponsor: 
Harm Reduction Coalition, NY; Roche Pharmaceuticals
Date: 
2002
Pages: 
35
Collections: 
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
Summary: 
Research report detailing the rates of HIV and Hepatitis C among African American and Latino injecting drug users in the United States. The report is based on existing literature and studies and underscores racial differences in terms of vulnerability to HIV through drug use as well as lack of access to drug treatment and HIV treatment for non-whites once infected. The report also reviews the scientific evidence about needle exchange programs, arguing that these access programs do not increase drug use, but can in fact reduce drug use and prevent HIV. The author argues that access to clean needles should be made a legal right for injecting drug users. Considering the economic costs of HIV treatment and the human costs of the disease itself, it makes more sense from a moral as well as economical perspective to invest in HIV prevention programs that use a harm reduction approach to drug use.
Keywords: 
USA; US; United States; Afro-Americans; African Americans; Latinos; Blacks; HIV/AIDS; HCV; Hepatitis C; Hep C; injecting drug users; IDUs; needle exchange programs; HIV prevention; harm reduction; risk reduction; HIV treatment; racism

Needle Exchange Programs and HIV Outbreak among Injection Drug Users in Vancouver, Canada: Addressing Some Common Misperceptions

Publication type: 
Brochure / Leaflet / Pamphlet / Information Sheet
Agency: 
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
Date: 
2005-03
Pages: 
3
Collections: 
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
Summary: 
Questions regarding the efficacy of needle exchange programs arose after a 1997 Vancouver study found that program participants who went every week had a higher HIV prevalence rate than those who did not go weekly. This article argues that needle exchange programs in fact reduce HIV infections, and that governments have a human rights obligation to ensure access to sterile needles. Prevalence rates in Vancouver are explained by a range of other factors, and would have been much higher in the absence of the needle exchange program.
Keywords: 
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network; needle exchange programs (NEP); needle exchange; drug use; harm reduction; HIV/AIDS; Vancouver; injection drug users; IDUs; DTES; Downtown Eastside

Vancouver nurse and Pivot Legal Society receive Canadian human rights awards: Fight human rights abuses that drive AIDS epidemic

Publication type: 
Media Release
Agency: 
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
Date: 
2004-09-10
Pages: 
2
Collections: 
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
Summary: 
Press release about 2004 Canadian recipients of the Awards for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights. It describes recipient Megan Oleson, a nurse who works in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver and organized the opening of North America's first safe injection site in 2003. Pivot Legal Society, a non-profit organization that addresses legal and human rights challenges faced by sex workers, drug users and homeless people in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, also received the award.
Keywords: 
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network; Pivot Legal Society; DTES; Downtown Eastside; Vancouver; drug users; safe injection site; human rights; law; sex workers; supervised injection site; HIV/AIDS; Hepatitis C; HCV; Hep C; harm reduction; risk reduction; advocacy groups; IDUs; Megan Oleson; nurses; street nurses; Insite

Investigating the Levels of Inter-Agency Collaboration Between Health, Social Care and Housing Agencies when Providing Services for People with a Severe Mental Illness

Publication type: 
Web Page / Electronic Reproduction
Agency: 
Centre for Housing Policy (CHP), University of York
Date: 
1997
Pages: 
1
Collections: 
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
Summary: 
Brief summary of a research project about levels of collaboration between agencies in the provision of services to people with mental illnesses in the UK, which was to be carried out between 1997 and 1999. The research was to involve three stages: 1) development of performance indicators for mental health services; 2) testing the extent to which agencies meet the performance standards; and 3) case study work to see if the adoption of the indicators and systems for working together are efficient.
Keywords: 
Centre for Housing Policy (CHP); University of York; UK; Britain; England; housing; mental health; mental illness; health services; mental health services; housing needs; housing services

HIV/AIDS and Human Rights: International Guidelines

Publication type: 
Policy Paper / Action Plan
Agency: 
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and Office of the United Nations High Commission
Date: 
2002
Pages: 
28
Collections: 
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
Summary: 
In 1998 the OHCHR and UNAIDS issued the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights. Developments in the effectiveness of antiretroviral treatment and drops in drug prices led them to review guideline 6 and to more clearly define how access to medication, treatment, care and support a human right. They convened a group of experts and based guideline 6 on the following premises: that prevention, treatment, care and support are a continuum; that access to HIV/AIDS-related treatment is fundamental to realizing the right to health; that ensuring access to medication requires states to address multiple social and economic factors; that international cooperation is needed to ensure equitable access. The new guideline is meant to assist States to design policy and practice to ensure respect for human rights.
Keywords: 
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); UN; UN Convention; international law; United Nations; United Nations Conventions; HIV/AIDS; human rights; HIV prevention; HIV treatment; access to services; health care; support services; law;

Safe Injection Site Should Not Be Law Enforcement Tool: Legal Network urges Vancouver mayor-elect to stop police crackdown

Publication type: 
Media Release
Agency: 
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
Date: 
2005-11-30
Pages: 
4
Collections: 
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
Summary: 
Press release by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network announcing an open letter they sent to Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan demanding a stop to the Vancouver police crackdown on drug users who inject in public places rather than Insite, the safe injection site. Users who need assistance injecting - the majority of whom are women - are forced to do so in public spaces. Police targeting of these people is unjust and counter to the harm reduction approach of Insite. Attached is the letter sent to the Mayor. The letter asks him to revisit the police's new crackdown policy; addressing Insite's overload by establishing other facilities; and recommend that Vancouver Coastal Health reconsider its policy of banning assisted injection at Insite.
Keywords: 
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network; DTES; Downtown Eastside; Vancouver; drug users; safe injection site; HIV/AIDS; harm reduction; risk reduction; advocacy groups; police; Insite; supervised injection site; Hepatitis C; HCV; Hep C; IDUs

Grassroots Women Newsletter: March 2006

Publication type: 
Newsletter
Agency: 
Grassroots Women
Date: 
2006-03
Pages: 
12
Collections: 
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
Summary: 
Newsletter of Grassroots Women, a Vancouver-based advocacy and activist group that challenges imperialist processes and strategies of globalization that systematically oppress and marginalize working-class women. This newsletter celebrates the 10th anniversary of Grassroots Women. It includes articles on the group's 10 years of struggle for women's liberation; efforts to reclaim International Women's Day as a day for anti-imperialist solidarity; efforts to resist the World Trade Organization (WTO); and updates on Grassroots Women campaigns. Membership information, group contact details, and upcoming events are also listed.
Keywords: 
Grassroots Women; feminists; feminism; women's movement; International Women's Day; globalization; imperialism; World Trade Organization (WTO); advocacy groups; Vancouver; grassroots; activism; activists; women's rights;

Vancouver Native Health Society 2002 Annual Report

Publication type: 
Annual Report
Agency: 
Vancouver Native Health Society
Date: 
2002
Pages: 
76
Collections: 
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
Summary: 
12th annual report of the Vancouver Native Health Society. It provides an analysis of patient demographics, clinic attendance, HIV/AIDS prevalence rates of patients; and characteristics of patients and clients using the various Society programs. The report describes the models of programming and activities carried out in 2002 by Sheway; Positive Outlook; Youth Safe House Project; Inner City Foster Parent Program; Pre-Recovery Empowerment Program; Four Directions Recovery; Female Condom Project; HepHIV; Residential School Survivors Healing Centre; the medical walk-in clinic, Co-Ed Life Skills Upgrading Program; Music Therapy; Aboriginal Head Start Program; and ADAPT. It concludes with a detailed financial statement for the year.
Keywords: 
Vancouver Native Health Society; aboriginal; Vancouver; British Columbia; Downtown Eastside; DTES; HIV/AIDS; HIV treatment; methadone; Sheway; Positive Outlook; Youth Safe House Project; Inner City Foster Parent Program; Pre-Recovery Empowerment Program; Four Directions Recovery; Female Condom Project; HepHIVE; Residential School Survivors Healing Centre; Aboriginal Head Start Program; Aboriginal Diabetes Teaching and Awareness (A.D.A.P.T.) access to services; health service usage; support services; drug use

Vancouver Native Health Society 1999 Annual Report

Publication type: 
Annual Report
Agency: 
Vancouver Native Health Society
Date: 
1999
Pages: 
64
Collections: 
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
Summary: 
9th annual report of Vancouver Native Health Society. It provides an analysis of patient demographics, clinic attendance, HIV/AIDS prevalence rates of patients; and characteristics of patients on HIV/AIDS treatment and Methadone maintenance therapy. The report describes activities undertaken by each of its programs and patient / client statistics for each program (Positive Outlook; Sheway; Pre-Recovery Empowerment Program; Co-ed Life Skills Program; Inner City Foster Parent Program; Youth Safe House Project; and the medical walk-in clinic). It concludes with a detailed financial statement for the year.
Keywords: 
Vancouver Native Health Society; aboriginal; Vancouver; British Columbia; Downtown Eastside; DTES; HIV/AIDS; HIV treatment; methadone; Sheway; Positive Outlook; Youth Safe House Project; Inner City Foster Parent Program; Pre-Recovery Empowerment Program; Four Directions Recovery; access to services; health service usage; support services; drug use

Provincial Health Officer's Report on HIV Reportability

Publication type: 
Policy Paper / Action Plan
Agency: 
British Columbia Ministry of Health Planning, Office of the Provincial Health Officer
Sponsor: 
British Columbia Ministry of Health Planning
Date: 
2002-02
Pages: 
70
Collections: 
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
Summary: 
This report gives a set of recommendations about making HIV a reportable disease in British Columbia. Reportability refers to sending patient data to the Centre for Disease Control for the purposes of epidemiological surveillance, and notifying HIV positive patients' partners that they may have been exposed. This report provides the findings from a review of existing literature on the subject and from consultations undertaken by the BC Ministry of Health with AIDS organizations, people affected by HIV, and government advisory councils. Recommendations include adding HIV to the list of reportable conditions in the Health Act; a non-nominal option for people being tested; the development of best practices protocols for partner notification; educating physicians about the Health Act, confidentiality and informed consent; and a future evaluation of the impact of making HIV reportable.
Keywords: 
BC Ministry of Health; BC; British Columbia; HIV/AIDS; legislation; policy; health policy; health information; privacy;

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