Harm reduction measures aimed at preventing HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission in prisons are neither new nor groundbreaking in Canada. Prison systems have implemented, to varying degrees, forms of harm reduction such as condoms, bleach and methadone maintenance treatment. However, as of September 2008, no Canadian jurisdiction had established a prison-based needle and … Read more
FEATURE Clean switch: the case for prison needle and syringe programs CANADIAN DEVELOPMENTS Quebec’s funding cut endangers study on alternative treatment for people addicted to heroin Constitutionality of gay blood donor ban challenged in court In brief Report: Cancelled prison tattoo initiative had potential to reduce disease transmission Municipal support on Vancouver Island for access … Read more
“For Canada and the world, 2010 is a year of opportunities that can and should be seized by Parliament and the Government, working in collaboration with community organizations, to make real progress in saving lives and making a healthier nation and world.” (Advertisement placed in The Hill Times, Monday, January 18, 2010, p. 21)
On the evening of December 2, 2009, in a victory for treatment activists, Canada’s House of Commons voted narrowly (143 in favour, 127 against) to move forward with a private member’s bill that would streamline “Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime” (CAMR), the law originally passed in 2004 to implement the WTO General Council Decision of … Read more
“We write to urge you to support legislation that will make it easier to send life-saving medicine to developing countries and, in the process, reaffirm Canada’s history of commitment to helping our fellow citizens of the world.”
Brief presented November 18, 2009 to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs regarding Bill C-15, An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.