The health representatives in the city of Victoria, Canada are working on a project that aims to reduce the number of individuals who die from an overdose. Victoria is considered to have an alarming number of deaths caused by overdose and it already is building up a reputation regarding this matter in British Colombia.
Dr. Richard Stanwick who is the chief medical health officer at Island Health stated that it is the health care providers’ responsibility to offer an adequate support and resources for people who need it most. The supervised injection site’s location was determined to be on Pandora Avenue right next to the Our Place center that offers support for people who live in the streets.
Moreover, a number of ten at a time people will be able to inject the drugs in the facility and they will be accompanied by professional personnel that is prepared to respond to possible overdose symptoms. Marianne Alto who is a councilor of Victoria stated the importance of these services that are life-saving and life-changing for people who are struggling with addiction.
The site will have the same model as the Insite in Vancouver, which is the first site of this kind in the country. Its official name is the Pandora Community Health and Wellness Centre and will also provide psychological and health counseling and access to programs that offer treatment for addictions.
On the other hand, the building that will offer these services requires a great level of renovation with the cost of $ 1.1 million. Therefore, the supervised injection project will be available in spring or summer of 2018. Fortunately, there are still methods of reducing the overdose consequences that can be found at Our Place in December. The site will be having experienced personnel and paramedics that will be able to respond to the symptoms of an overdose.
The second site for supervised injection is waiting for approval and the health authority emphasizes the importance of reducing the alarming overdose deaths numbers in the future with this kind of projects.
