Expansion Of Prison Needle Exchange Programs Continues Despite Pandemic Delays

Since the site opened, there have been 55 participants, 1,591 visits and zero overdoses at the site, officials told the conference. The correctional service says it also offers mental health counseling, access to naloxone to treat the effects of opioid overdoses, and preventative treatments such as pre-exposure prophylaxis – a drug taken to prevent HIV. All these efforts have led to a reduction in infections, said Marie-Pierre Gendron, an epidemiologist at Correctional Service Canada. He said HIV infection among prisoners nationally has dropped from 2.02 percent of the prison population in 2007 to 0.93 percent in 2020. and hepatitis C is down from 21 percent in 2010 to 3, 2 percent in 2021. “I’m encouraged by the way they describe the program as something they’re proud of,” says Sandra Ka Hon Chu, co-executive director of the HIV Legal Network. But a major “red flag” that could lead to lower participation is the fact that security personnel are involved in the process, he said. This is not the case in other countries’ prison needle exchange programs, some of which are completely anonymous or even offer syringes in automated dispensers. “It’s really a critical flaw in the program,” he said. Inmates are subject to a security threat assessment and warden approval before they can access the programs, officials described the process. Almost a quarter of requests to join the program have been rejected, according to statistics presented at the conference. Shawn Huish, the warden at Mission Institution in British Columbia, said it was a challenge to change the mindset of corrections workers who are used to searching for drugs, seizing them and trying to stop inmates from taking them – while reassuring prisoners participating in the program will not affect their release. There was a lot of “fake news” to fight, Huish said, including a billboard erected outside the prison that painted the program in a negative light. “Our biggest focus was to talk, to educate, to dispel fear. Recognizing a needle in prison can be scary for people,” he said. “You’re afraid of getting needles stuck in you. So we looked at the records. In two and a half years, we’ve had one staff member get stung, and that was during the search, and it was a hit.” Leah Cook, the regional director of public health for the Prairies, oversaw the implementation of the supervised injection site at Drumheller and said it is “the only known service of its kind in a correctional setting on the world stage, which I am incredibly proud of. ” Cook said a “safe zone” was set up so program participants could bring their own stash of drugs into the observation room without fear of being searched – and it’s nicknamed the “yellow brick road”. The Correctional Service of Canada did not immediately respond to questions sent over the weekend. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 2, 2022. Marie-Danielle Smith, The Canadian Press

title: “Expansion Of Prison Needle Exchange Programs Continues Despite Pandemic Delays " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-25” author: “Christopher Mihm”

Since the site opened, there have been 55 participants, 1,591 visits and zero overdoses at the site, officials told the conference. The correctional service says it also offers mental health counseling, access to naloxone to treat the effects of opioid overdoses, and preventative treatments such as pre-exposure prophylaxis – a drug taken to prevent HIV. All these efforts have led to a reduction in infections, said Marie-Pierre Gendron, an epidemiologist at Correctional Service Canada. He said HIV infection among prisoners nationally has dropped from 2.02 percent of the prison population in 2007 to 0.93 percent in 2020. and hepatitis C is down from 21 percent in 2010 to 3, 2 percent in 2021. “I’m encouraged by the way they describe the program as something they’re proud of,” says Sandra Ka Hon Chu, co-executive director of the HIV Legal Network. But a major “red flag” that could lead to lower participation is the fact that security personnel are involved in the process, he said. This is not the case in other countries’ prison needle exchange programs, some of which are completely anonymous or even offer syringes in automated dispensers. “It’s really a critical flaw in the program,” he said. Inmates are subject to a security threat assessment and warden approval before they can access the programs, officials described the process. Almost a quarter of requests to join the program have been rejected, according to statistics presented at the conference. Shawn Huish, the warden at Mission Institution in British Columbia, said it was a challenge to change the mindset of corrections workers who are used to searching for drugs, seizing them and trying to stop inmates from taking them – while reassuring prisoners participating in the program will not affect their release. There was a lot of “fake news” to fight, Huish said, including a billboard erected outside the prison that painted the program in a negative light. “Our biggest focus was to talk, to educate, to dispel fear. Recognizing a needle in prison can be scary for people,” he said. “You’re afraid of getting needles stuck in you. So we looked at the records. In two and a half years, we’ve had one staff member get stung, and that was during the search, and it was a hit.” Leah Cook, the regional director of public health for the Prairies, oversaw the implementation of the supervised injection site at Drumheller and said it is “the only known service of its kind in a correctional setting on the world stage, which I am incredibly proud of. ” Cook said a “safe zone” was set up so program participants could bring their own stash of drugs into the observation room without fear of being searched – and it’s nicknamed the “yellow brick road”. The Correctional Service of Canada did not immediately respond to questions sent over the weekend. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 2, 2022. Marie-Danielle Smith, The Canadian Press

title: “Expansion Of Prison Needle Exchange Programs Continues Despite Pandemic Delays " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-28” author: “Deborah Dana”

In a presentation given at the International AIDS Conference in Montreal over the weekend, Henry de Souza, the agency’s director general of clinical services and public health, said that “certain agencies” have been identified for expansion and the program will continue to be implemented in the whole country. Inmates have been able to request sterile drug use equipment in two Canadian prisons since 2018, and seven more were added in 2019. Some advocates have raised fears that the program, which is designed to reduce needle sharing and the spread of infectious diseases, could be canceled since numbers showed low uptake. Only 53 inmates were actively using the programs in mid-June, officials told the AIDS conference Friday night, out of 277 who had been approved to participate in the past four years. These programs are in addition to the country’s only prison-based “overdose prevention service,” which began operating in 2019 at the Drumheller Institution for Men in Alberta. It is essentially a supervised injection site, offering sterile equipment and monitored consumption. Since the site opened, there have been 55 participants, 1,591 visits and zero overdoses at the site, officials told the conference. The correctional service says it also offers mental health counseling, access to naloxone to treat the effects of opioid overdoses, and preventative treatments such as pre-exposure prophylaxis – a drug taken to prevent HIV. All these efforts have led to a reduction in infections, said Marie-Pierre Gendron, an epidemiologist at Correctional Service Canada. He said HIV infection among prisoners nationally has dropped from 2.02 percent of the prison population in 2007 to 0.93 percent in 2020. and hepatitis C is down from 21 percent in 2010 to 3, 2 percent in 2021. “I’m encouraged by the way they describe the program as something they’re proud of,” says Sandra Ka Hon Chu, co-executive director of the HIV Legal Network. But a major “red flag” that could lead to lower participation is the fact that security personnel are involved in the process, he said. This is not the case in other countries’ prison needle exchange programs, some of which are completely anonymous or even offer syringes in automated dispensers. “It’s really a critical flaw in the program,” he said. Inmates are subject to a security threat assessment and warden approval before they can access the programs, officials described the process. Almost a quarter of requests to join the program have been rejected, according to statistics presented at the conference. ALSO READ: Canadian prison guards outraged over inmate needle exchange program Shawn Huish, the warden at Mission Institution in British Columbia, said it was a challenge to change the mindset of corrections workers who are used to searching for drugs, seizing them and trying to stop inmates from taking them – while reassuring prisoners participating in the program will not affect their release. There was a lot of “fake news” to fight, Huish said, including a billboard erected outside the prison that painted the program in a negative light. “Our biggest focus was to talk, to educate, to dispel fear. Recognizing a needle in prison can be scary for people,” he said. “You’re afraid of getting needles stuck in you. So we looked at the records. In two and a half years, we’ve had one staff member get stung, and that was during the search, and it was a hit.” Leah Cook, the regional director of public health for the Prairies, oversaw the implementation of the supervised injection site at Drumheller and said it is “the only known service of its kind in a correctional setting on the world stage, which I am incredibly proud of. “ Cook said a “safe zone” was set up so program participants could bring their own stash of drugs into the observation room without fear of being searched – and it’s nicknamed the “yellow brick road”. The Correctional Service of Canada did not immediately respond to questions sent over the weekend. Marie-Danielle Smith, The Canadian Press Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. CanadaprisonPrison needle use