First-of-its-kind study shows supervised injection facilities can help people quit drugs
BC-CfE Study Finds Links Between Insite Use, Addiction Treatment and Stopping Injection Drug Use
Vancouver, BC, September 13, 2010 - A study led by researchers at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) at
St. Paul's Hospital and the University of British Columbia has found that supervised injection facilities such as Vancouver's Insite connect clients with
addiction treatment, which in turn resulted in greater likelihood of stopping injection drug use for at least six months.
The study, recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, is the first ever to examine
the link between a supervised injection facility and injection cessation.
"Extensive research has already shown that supervised injection facilities lead to increased uptake into addiction
treatment, but no one has ever examined whether this translates into stopping injection drug use," says Kora DeBeck, a PhD candidate at UBC
and researcher at the BC-CfE. "This study found that after Insite staff help people who use drugs enter addiction treatment, they are more
likely to stop injecting."
The study followed 902 Insite clients who visited the supervised injection facility between December 2003 and June 2006. During this time,
95 of these individuals reported quitting injection drug use for at least six months. Approximately 78% of participants (or 74 participants)
that reported injection cessation were recently engaged in addiction treatment.
The study also showed that Insite clients who went into addiction treatment were more likely to have regularly visited Insite and had contact
with on-site addictions counselors. This group was subsequently more likely to stop injecting.
"Many people benefit from supervised injection facilities, which have been shown to increase addiction treatment, reduce rates of
crime and incidence of HIV, prevent drug overdoses, and now help people who use drugs quit injecting,"
said Dr. Julio Montaner , Director
of the BC-CfE and Chair in AIDS Research at UBC's Faculty of Medicine. "These new study results are yet another
reason the Canadian federal government should stop their current efforts to shut down Insite."
The study found Aboriginal participants were less likely to enter addiction treatment. This finding is consistent with past studies,
which indicated that Aboriginal people who use drugs may be less likely to enter conventional forms of addiction treatment. These findings
highlight the importance of engaging with Aboriginal people who use drugs to determine why this group is not benefiting from addiction
treatments to the same extent as non-Aboriginal clients and develop strategies to engage this population into treatment.
"Aboriginal people who use drugs need to be involved in the planning and delivery of addiction services. We have been excluded
for too long," says Lorna Bird, President of the Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society and study co-author.
Study authors note that addiction is recognized as a chronic relapsing condition, and the definition of "injection cessation" was
restricted to a period of six months.
The abstract for this study can be found here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20800976
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About the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) is Canada's largest HIV/AIDS research, treatment and education facility. The BC-CfE is a program at St Paul's Hospital,
Providence Health Care, a teaching hospital of the University of British Columbia. Located in Vancouver, Canada, the BC-CfE is dedicated to improving the health of
British Columbians with HIV through the development, monitoring and dissemination of comprehensive research and treatment programs for HIV and related diseases.
For additional information contact:
Ian Noble
Edelman (on behalf of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS)
T 604.623.3007 ext. 300
M 604.809.9650
ian.noble@edelman.com
"Reproduced with permission - BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS"
BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
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