Insite gets stamp of approval from Canada’s health minister

Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott has given a heartfelt stamp of approval to the work of Vancouver’s Insite supervised-injection site, a dramatic shift in tone from the previous Conservative government on harm reduction strategies that could have consequences across the country.

The new Liberal Health Minister, a family doctor who founded a charity that has raised more than $4-million to help those affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa, visited Insite on Wednesday, one day before joining her provincial and territorial counterparts for meetings on a new health accord.

While supervised-injection sites are not on the agenda, Dr. Philpott was asked about her visit during a break in the discussions.

“I have to say my visit to Insite was extremely moving for me,” Dr. Philpott said on Thursday. “It meant so much to me because I’ve been involved in responding to things like the HIV pandemic for many years in my career and I’ve followed the work of Insite. I’ve always known that what they do absolutely saves countless lives. It has a huge impact on people.”

Insite has operated on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside since 2003. The Dr. Peter Centre, a renowned HIV/AIDS clinic in the city’s West End, has offered supervised-injection service in an integrated model since 2002, receiving federal authorization last week.

The federal Liberal government, however, has not made any commitment to repealing the legislation that makes it extremely difficult to open other supervised-injection sites.

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Canada Post has provided notification of restarting their operations on December 17, 2024. As Canada Post ramps up and stabilizes their services, the BC-CfE will continue the following measures on an interim basis to minimize service disruption to BC-CfE clients and providers.

  • The BC-CfE Laboratory will utilize private courier for delivery of outgoing reports and documents. (Lab Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8775; FAX 604-806-9463)
  • The BC-CfE Drug Treatment Program (DTP) will fax outgoing forms and documents to the provider’s office. (DTP Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8515; FAX 604-806-9044)
  • St. Paul’s Hospital Ambulatory Pharmacy will utilize private courier for delivery of medications. (Contact Information: Phone 1-800-547-3622; FAX 604-806-8675)