The Dr. Peter Centre in Vancouver has applied for an exemption to federal drug laws that would allow the facility to continue offering supervised injection services to its clients.
Nurses at the centre, which provides care to people living with HIV, including many who are poor and homeless, have been quietly providing supervised injection services since 2002 without a formal exemption to Canada’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
The Dr. Peter Centre started the service after the College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia said that it was within the scope of nursing practice to supervise injections for the purposes of preventing illness and promoting health.
But a groundbreaking 2011 Supreme Court of Canada decision related to Insite, a high-profile clinic in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, has cleared the way for the Dr. Peter Centre to formalize the practice – with full backing from provincial and city governments.
The application was submitted by the Dr. Peter Aids Foundation and Vancouver Coastal Health, the regional health authority that funds and oversees the centre.
“The Dr. Peter Centre provides a variety of effective care and treatment services for those living with HIV/AIDS including access to supervised injections,” B.C. Minister of Health Terry Lake said Thursday in a statement about the application.
Wendy Stueck
The Globe and Mail
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