As a provincial initiative to support improved healthcare for people who use substances, the META:PHI program welcomes the provincial government’s investment in addiction treatment and essential supports, including housing.
At the same time, we are concerned about the planned closure of a majority of the province’s supervised consumption sites, including all sites in northern Ontario and most sites within the City of Toronto. Supervised consumption sites and needle exchange programs are essential healthcare services that are known to reduce the transmission of infections and the incidence of fatal overdoses while connecting people with service providers.
Our system requires many points of entry, including hospitals, rapid access addiction medicine (RAAM) clinics, community agencies, and harm reduction. We hope the Government of Ontario will consider opportunities to maintain needle exchange programs and supervised consumption facilities as part of a comprehensive care model for people at all stages along their own journey towards their substance use goals.