Saskatchewan won't get safe-injection sites

Despite having Canada's highest rate of HIV-AIDS infection, Saskatchewan health officials say they have no plans to build facilities where intravenous drug users can more safely inject street drugs under the supervision of a health professional.

"I don't think that that is the relevant response," said Dr. John Opondo, deputy medical officer of health for the Saskatoon health region.

Opondo made his remarks to CBC News at a national HIV-AIDS conference taking place in that city over the weekend.

"What happens in Saskatoon is, most needle use happens in people's homes," Opondo said, adding that studies on the outbreak of HIV in the province don't show that a safe-injection site is necessary.

"We need to see what's relevant to the community and then we need to tailor services, based on what we see."

At the conference, officials said most new HIV cases involve transmission of the virus through injection drug use. The rate of infection is four times higher in Saskatchewan than it was five years ago, officials said.

Vancouver facility controversial

Controversy has swirled around a supervised-injection site in Vancouver since it opened in 2003.

In January, the federal government lost its bid to have Insite — a provincially operated facility — shut down after the B.C. Court of Appeal affirmed its right to exist.

The Insite facility was built to address some of the issues around addiction that plague Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Needle-exchange programs in Saskatchewan have also been under fire from the provincial government lately.

In its fall throne speech, the ruling Saskatchewan Party said it wants to limit the number of needles used in various needle-exchange programs in the province.

That decision contradicted a government study examining such programs that found they contribute to a reduction in the spread of blood-borne diseases like HIV-AIDS.

That study also suggested the program may save the health-care system $4 million a year.