Reducing the risk
Rates of sexually transmitted infections, hepatitis C in Northern Nova Scotia concerning
It’s a cold and wet day when Karen Kittilsen Levine packs up and makes the trek from Truro to Pictou County.
In her vehicle are needles, water, alcohol swabs and condoms. For most people, it is not your typical collection of supplies for a road trip, but for Levine it is something she packs each week as she drives across Northern Nova Scotia to help people who are finding it difficult to help themselves.
As program co-ordinator for Northern Healthy Connections Society, based in Truro, Kittilsen Levine visits Pictou County to distribute new supplies to people with drug addictions.
The society started out with a fixed site in Truro in 2010 where it distributed a limited number of harm reduction materials through the Mainland Needle Exchange.
That changed, however, in 2015 when the province decided to adopt a more proactive approach to the opioid crisis occurring across Canada.
The province has established four zones that include the work of non- profit organizations, such as Northern Healthy Con- nections Society, which each receiving funding from the Nova Scotia Health Authority to support their program needs.
“The government is being very proactive in getting ahead of it,” Kittilsen Levine said.
“It has developed the opioid use and overdose framework and harm reduction is the place where we come in.”
In its mandate, the provincial government has recognized the demands on community organizations, such as Northern Healthy Connections Society, is high and funding was limited. Its first step was to stabilize funding and it will also be reviewing the current needle distribution and disposal services model.
Other areas it will focus on will be prevention, treatment and prescribing practices as well as criminal justice and enforcement.
As the government continues its work, Kittilsen Levine and co- workers focus on theirs by making sure people in Northern Nova Scotia are reducing their risks for contracting other infections and diseases.
“Transmissions can happen for hepatitis C and HIV,” she said.
According to Notifiable Diseases in Nova Scotia 2016 Surveillance Report, Northern Nova Scotia, which includes Colchester, Pictou and Cumberland counties, has the second-highest rate of hepatitis C.
Kittilsen Levine said the statistics are concerning, but she believes that providing people in need with clean supplies is key to reducing the numbers in the future.
And so far, based on the society’s own numbers, it seems to be making a connection.
Currently, in Northern Nova Scotia, the society says 86 per cent of its clients use opiates, and the society has distributed 95,324 needles in the past year in the northern zone.
On the flip side, 120,193 needles were returned in the Northern region in the past year.
Its client interactions in Northern Nova Scotia have increased substantially, which also plays a key role in harm reduction, she said. From 2015/16 to 2017/18, its client visits went from 200 to 950.
“There are more people coming forward because they know we are here,” Kittilsen Levine said.
“In Truro, we provide a very relaxed and non- judgmental atmosphere. We invite people to have a cup of tea, a bottle of water and to get their supplies. We have that opportunity to talk to people and ask them how they are doing. It’s a check-in.”