• 750 – 800 visits per day
• 257,575 visits per year
• Average of 11 visits per month, per
person
• More than 10,000 unique individuals
registered at Insite to date
Harm reduction at Insite
(Figures from April 1, 2007 – March 31, 2008)
• More than 200 overdoses annually with
no fatalities
• 3,862 first aid and medical care
interventions
• 2,269 referrals to social and health
services (40% made to addiction
counselling)
• Insite users are twice as likely to
engage in addiction treatment than
non-Insite users
Benefits to health care system
• Benefit of prevented HIV infections and
deaths is calculated to be between
$1.50 and $4.02, depending on model
used, for every dollar spent. These
calculations are based upon an
underestimate of the full range of
benefits and an overestimate of the
annual costs of operation of the facility.
Community support*
• 57% of Lower Mainland residents
support Insite
• 65% City of Vancouver residents
support Insite Infectious diseases
HIV
• 3 in 10 injection drug users in the DTES
are HIV positive
• 18% of Insite clients are HIV positive
• 30 new HIV cases in the DTES in 2006
compared to 2,100 cases in 1996
• Lifetime costs for a new HIV infection
are close to $500,000US.
Hepatitis C
• 9 in 10 injection drug users in the DTES
have Hepatitis C
• 87% of Insite clients have Hepatitis C
Insite participants
• 27% of clients are women
• 19% of clients are Aboriginal
• 17% of clients are homeless
• 68% of clients live in DTES
• 80% of clients have a history of
incarceration
• 73% of users have injected in public
before
Drug use
• Heroin was used in 42% of injections
• Cocaine was used in 26% of injections
• Morphine was used in 11% of injections
