Prison Needle Exchange: Lessons from a Comprehensive Review ...

professor of Aboriginal ancestry; and a former commissioner of CSC. Committee observers
included CSC and Health Canada staff. ECAP reviewed laws and policies, visited correctional
facilities, interviewed prisoners, prison staff, and interested and expert individuals and
bodies, and received submissions from 91 Canadian and international agencies and Canadian
governments and governmental agencies. ECAP presented its findings at meetings and conferences
and distributed its draft report widely. It received feedback from 50 groups, individuals,
and agencies.
ECAP reviewed and assessed the current situation and debate regarding prevention of the
harms associated with injection drug use in prisons. Regarding sterile injection equipment,
ECAP recommended: 258
In order to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases, in particular HIV, due
to the sharing of unclean injection equipment, and because injection equipment
may not be effectively or consistently cleaned by bleach, ECAP has concluded
that access to sterile injection equipment by inmates must be addressed by CSC.
Therefore, ECAP recommends that research be undertaken that will identify
ways and develop measures, including access to sterile injection equipment, that
will further reduce the risk of HIV transmission and other harms from injection
drug use in federal correctional institutions. This research should be carried out
with the active involvement of Health Canada and by individuals independent of
but in collaboration with CSC. It should be preceded by consultation with
inmates, staff, community groups and independent experts. It should include one
or more scientifically valid pilot projects, and should be accompanied by planning,
communication and education that will expedite making sterile injection
equipment available in the institutions.
Study Group on Needle Exchange Programs
The 1999 Final Report of the Study Group on Needle Exchange Programs was prepared by
the Study Group on Needle Exchange Programs, convened by CSC. The Study Group was
specifically convened to investigate the issue of introducing needle
exchanges into Canadian federal prisons. The Study Group included
Dr Peter Ford, an internal medicine specialist in infectious disease,
physician contracted to CSC to provide care to HIV-positive
prisoners in several institutions in Ontario, and co-author of four
epidemiological studies on HIV and HCV prevalence in Canadian
prisons. Other members of the Study Group included CSC staff
(security, health services, and women-offenders representatives),
health and community organizations, Health Canada, prisoners, and
the public. The project included a CSC task force of health service
and security representatives that visited three Swiss prisons to learn
more about harm-reduction strategies, and more specifically needle
exchange programs.
In the Final Report of the Study Group on Needle Exchange
Programs, the Study Group recognized that a needle exchange project: 259
CSC’s own Study Group
recognized in 1999 that a
needle exchange project
would advance the
government’s promise of
building safer communities
and reinforce the Solicitor
General’s commitment to
public safety and protection.
• would advance the government’s promise of building safer communities and reinforce
the Solicitor General’s commitment to public safety and protection
Needle Exchange Programs Should Be Implemented in Prisons in Canada 59