[Viva] Fwd: Health Minister has re-introduced a bill to block access to health services

Sun Oct 27 10:44:14 PDT 2013

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Canadian Drug Policy Coalition <mail at drugpolicy.ca>
Date: Thu, Oct 17, 2013 at 2:35 PM
Subject: Health Minister has re-introduced a bill to block access to health
services
To: vivawomen at gmail.com

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                   Thursday, October 17, 2013       [image: CDPC, AIDS Law
and PIVOT]

---FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE---

*Today, the federal Health Minister has re-introduced a bill whose sole
purpose and intent is to block access to health services that save lives
and protect public health and safety. *

Bill C-2, tabled in Parliament this morning, is identical to Bill C-65 that
was tabled in June in the last session of Parliament, before it was
prorogued.  The bill is aimed at impeding the operation of supervised
consumption sites, such as Insite in Vancouver -- which the Supreme Court
of Canada already declared, two years ago, saves lives and protects health.

Below <#141c85841b1b23d3_c-65> and linked
here<http://www.e-activist.com/ea-campaign/action.handleViewInBrowser.do?ea.campaigner.email=mOcOuKAB9RwKMI9M9YMDxQ==&templateId=20591>is
the statement our organizations released regarding Bill C-65. As
today's Bill C-2 is identical, we maintain all the same concerns as
previously expressed.  We note as well that numerous health professionals
have also condemned the government's proposed changes as ill-founded and
poor health policy.  These include the Canadian Medical
Association<http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1179401/statement-from-the-canadian-medical-association-june-6-2013>,
the Canadian Nurses
Association<http://www.cna-aiic.ca/en/news-room/news-releases/2013/canadian-nurses-association-concerned-new-safe-injection-site-rules-pose-extra-barriers>,
the Canadian Association of Nurses in AIDS Care<http://www.canac.org/English/>,
the Public Health Physicians of
Canada,<http://nsscm.ca/Resources/Documents/ECAC%20Docs/PHPC%20SIS%20Position%20Statement_Final.pdf>Toronto's
Medical Officer of
Health<http://wx.toronto.ca/inter/it/newsrel.nsf/bydate/691F7DFBF808DB1885257B9C0059E10F>and
others.

Just two weeks ago, more than 50 community organizations from across the
country issued an open letter to Health Minister Rona
Ambrose<http://www.drugpolicy.ca/930-Campaign/9%2030%20letter.pdf>calling
on her to heed the years' worth of scientific evidence showing the
benefits of supervised consumption sites for our community members
struggling with addiction and for the public health and safety at large.

Instead, today the government has chosen to continue its years-long efforts
at obstructing and undermining the health and safety of Canadians.

 --30--

*Media Contacts:
*
Gilleen Witkowski
Communications and Media Relations Officer
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
gwitkowski at aidslaw.ca
416 595-1666 ext. 236 / 416 906-5554 (cell)

Donald MacPherson
Director
Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
Donald_MacPherson at sfu.ca
Tel: 778-782-9355

------------------------------

Previous Release: July 5, 2013

GOVERNMENT BILL WILL IMPEDE LIFE-SAVING HEALTH SERVICES,
CAUSE MORE DEATH AND DISEASE

Flouting the Supreme Court of Canada, today the federal government has
introduced in Parliament a bill that aims to make it even more difficult
for health authorities and community agencies to offer supervised drug
consumption services, such as Vancouver’s Insite, to Canadians who are
among those most at risk of HIV infection and fatal overdose.

Bill C-65 introduces numerous conditions that the government says must be
met before the Minister of Health will issue an exemption under the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) to allow a supervised
consumption service to operate. Without such an exemption, people using the
service risk being criminally charged for drug possession, effectively
undermining the ability of health services to reach those at greatest risk.

The bill is an irresponsible initiative that ignores both the extensive
evidence that such health services are needed and effective, and the human
rights of Canadians with addictions. In essence, the bill seeks to create
multiple additional hurdles that providers of health services must
overcome. The bill declares that the Health Minister should issue an
exemption only in “exceptional circumstances.” In addition, numerous
provisions of the bill create opportunities for community opponents, local
police and others to voice their opposition — even if ill-informed — to
such health services, and for the federal Health Minister to then use such
opposition as an excuse for denying exemptions.

The exemption first issued to Vancouver’s Insite facility in 2003 is the
only exemption issued to date in Canada under the CDSA for a supervised
injection service. In September 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada finally
ruled against the federal government’s decision to withhold further
extensions of that exemption. The Court declared the Health Minister had
violated the Charter rights of people who need access to such a health
facility to reduce the risk of blood-borne infections such as HIV and
hepatitis C
and the risk of dying from overdose. As the Court succinctly declared:
“Insite saves lives. Its benefits have been proven.” It ordered the
Minister to grant an exemption to Insite immediately.

In its judgment, the Supreme Court said the Health Minister has discretion
in deciding whether to approve any particular request for an exemption to
run a supervised consumption service, but that discretion must be exercised
in a way that respects the Charter. The Court set out five factors and said
the Minister must consider any evidence there is about those factors in
making a decision. This includes any evidence about community support or
opposition to the proposed health service.

However, the Court did not say that these are preconditions that must all
be satisfied. Yet the government’s bill would make people’s access to
supervised consumption services dependent on whether police or other
members of the community feel they are warranted. People who use drugs are
entitled to needed health care services just like all other Canadians. It
is unethical, unconstitutional and damaging to both public health and the
public purse to block access to supervised consumption services which save
lives and prevent the spread of infections.

*Additional information:*

“Insight into Insite” provides a plain-language summary of the research
into Vancouver’s
supervised injection site (Urban Health Research Initiative, 2010):
http://www.cfenet.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/insight_into_insite.pdf<http://www.cfenet.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/insight_into_insite.pdf>

“Drug consumption rooms: evidence and practice” (IDPC, 2012) provides an
overview of such services and their legal status in numerous countries
around the world:
http://aidslaw.ca/publications/publicationsdocEN.php?ref=1310<http://aidslaw.ca/publications/publicationsdocEN.php?ref=1310>

-30-

*Contacts:*
Gilleen Witkowski
Communications and Media Relations Officer
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
gwitkowski at aidslaw.ca
416 595-1666 ext. 236 / 416 906-5554 (cell)

Connie Carter
Senior Policy Analyst
Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
ccarter at drugpolicy.ca
250 598-7969
------------------------------

*Background
*In the last 20 years, supervised injection services (SIS) have been
integrated into drug treatment and harm reduction programs in Western
Europe, Australia and Canada. These services grew out of the recognition
that low threshold, easily accessible programs to reduce the incidence of
blood borne pathogens were effective and cost efficient.

*Objectives of Supervised Injection Services*
The objectives of SIS include: preventing the transmission of blood borne
infections such as HIV and hepatitis C; improving access to healthcare
services for the most marginalized groups of people who use drugs;
improving basic health and well-being; contributing to the safety and
quality of communities; and reducing the impact on communities of open drug
scenes.

*Services in Canada*
To shield clients and staff from criminal convictions, these services must
hold an exemption from certain provisions in the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act (CDSA). Section 56 of this Act allows the federal Minister
of Health to exempt a service or practice from the provisions of the CDSA
in the interests of scientific research or in the public interest.

Opposition from the current federal government has stalled the
implementation of these beneficial services. In 2007, the Health Minister
refused to grant a continuation of the legal exemption previously issued to
Insite. Proponents of the site, including the Portland Hotel Society (which
operates Insite under contract with the Vancouver Coastal Health
Authority), the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) and two
individuals using Insite to protect their health, challenged this refusal
all the way to Canada’s Supreme Court. In 2011, that Court ruled in favour
of the exemption and ordered the federal Minister of Health to grant a
continuation of the exemption.

*Research on these services in Canada*
Since 2003, the city of Vancouver has been the location of a rigorously
evaluated and highly successful stand-alone supervised injection site
(SIS). More than 30 peer-reviewed studies describing the impacts of Insite
indicate that it has several beneficial outcomes. The service is used by
the people it was intended to serve, which includes over 10,000 clients. It
is being used by people who would otherwise inject drugs in public spaces.
Insite has reduced the sharing of needles and provided education on safer
injecting practices. Insite has promoted entry into treatment for drug
dependence and has improved public order. It has also been found to reduce
overdose deaths and provide safety for women who inject drugs.(1)

Studies seeking to identify potential harms of the facility found no
evidence of negative impacts. In particular, studies found that such a
service does not lead to increased drug use or increased crime. Studies
were independently peer-reviewed and published in top scientific
periodicals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet and
the British Medical Journal.(2) These findings are echoed by evaluations of
other similar services in Australia and Europe.

1. Urban Health Research Institute (2010). Insight into Insite. Vancouver:
BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. For more information about the
research into Insite visit: http://uhri.cfenet.ubc.ca/content/view/57/92/.

2. T. Kerr, E. Wood, E., J. Montaner (2009). Vancouver’s Pilot Medically
Supervised Safer Injection Facility — Insite. See:
http://www.cfenet.ubc.ca/publications/findings-evaluation-vancouvers-pilot-medically-supervised-safer-injection-facility-insi

        *Canadian Drug Policy Coalition *
C/O Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction
Simon Fraser University
#2400 - 515 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 5K3

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-- 
All the best,

VIVA Working Group
vivawomen at gmail.com
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