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The Dashboard
April 2016 //
Canadian Government Executive /
17
Can safe injection sites save lives?
Sources:
Impact of medically supervised safer injection
facility on drug dealing and other drug related crime,
May, 8, 200b by Evan Wood, Mark W. Tyndall, Calvin Lai,
Julio SG Montaner, and Thomas Kerr.
Sources:
Vancouver’s supervised injection facility challenges Canada’s drug laws, Canadian
Medical Association Journal,
Sept. 21, 2010 by Kathleen Dooling and Michael Rachlis.
A 2006 Study that tracked crimes near the
Insite facility a year before and a year af-
ter the site was opened, found there was
no marked increase or decrease in the
occurrence of drug trafficking, assault
and robbery the area.
A study of the Insite facility using mathematical
modeling estimates that the site could avert two to
12 deaths from drug overdose, per year.
Will safe injection sites cause an increase in crime in
the neighbourhoods they are located in?
$ 4.1 million
– the cost of operating one injection site for a year, according to a St.
Michael’s Hospital study published in the
Addiction Journal.
The same study said the site will be able to save the public health system money
because it would cost
$10,763
less per patient, per year than the typical
medical interventions used to treat addiction.
(
Source:
Potential cost-effectiveness of
supervised injection facilities in Toronto and Ottawa, Canada
– Nov. 30, 2015 by Eva A. Evans, Gregory S.
Zaric, Carol J. Strike, Jennifer A. Jairam, Gillian Kolla, and Ahmed M. Bayoumi).
$60,000
– The cost of medication in Canada for hepatitis C, a virus which could be spread by sharing a needle.
(
Source:
Ottawa Citizen, June 30, 2015)
$18 million
estimated net savings the Vancouver Insite facility can provide the healthcare system when you take
into consideration hepatitis C and HIV transmission through needle sharing and the cost of treating these diseases.
(
Source:
The cost-effectiveness of Vancouver’s supervised injection facility
– CMAJ, Nov. 18, 2008 by Ahmed M. Bayoumi and Gregory S. Zaric)
Are supervised injection sites cost effective?