Nurses call for continued SIS

Following an August announcement that the provincial government will review the evidence on supervised injection services (SIS) and overdose prevention sites to see if they are worth continuing, Ontario nurses are concerned the move is a step in the wrong direction. “It’s disappointing and heartbreaking because there is a huge body of evidence (that points to its efficacy), and lives are literally in the balance,” says Lynn Anne Mulrooney, RNAO senior policy analyst. At Insite, Vancouver’s supervised injection facility, there have been more than 3.6 million visits since its inception in 2003, and more than 6,400 overdoses have been reversed by staff. Mulrooney adds that no one has ever died at the facility. “In a better world, nobody would be in this situation, but in the meantime, we’re in an emergency, so we have to respond appropriately.” (Bill Kelly Show, Global News, Aug. 8)