Message from the Executive Director

On May 12th, the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation was in the Supreme Court of Canada as an intervener in support of Insite, Vancouver’s internationally recognized supervised injection site for people who inject drugs. We were there because the outcome will significantly shape Canada’s HIV prevention, care, and treatment strategies for years to come. The date the Court will release its decision is, of course, not yet known.

As most of you know, the Dr. Peter Centre has been providing supervised injection service since 2002 when the College of Registered Nurses of BC confirmed for us that it was within the scope of nursing practice. We are proud of the contribution our model of integrating supervised injection into a broad range of health care services has made locally, nationally, and internationally. 

A recent report from the Office of BC’s Provincial Health Officer, Decreasing HIV Infections Among People Who Use Drugs by Injection in BC: Potential Explanations and Recommendations for Further Action, noted that the individual and health system benefits of supervised injection have been clearly demonstrated and access to supervised injection services should be expanded in BC, ideally by incorporation into routine public health services as per the Dr. Peter Centre model.

One of our core strategies is to build a knowledge transfer program so we can effectively share our Dr. Peter Centre experience with other health care organizations interested in providing similar services. Successful knowledge transfer involves developing an organizational culture of acceptance so that people who use drugs and people who don’t are welcomed into a therapeutic space so that all will have an opportunity to pursue ways to achieve improved health.

On behalf of the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation Board of Directors, staff, volunteers, and especially the Dr. Peter Centre’s residents and day health program participants, thank you all for your generosity and support.

Until there's a cure…

Maxine Davis