Vending-machine style harm reduction comes to New Brunswick

People in New Brunswick can now access harm-reduction materials with the press of a button with new vending machine-style machines. The dispensing machines, which are called Our Healthbox, dispense an array of harm reduction supplies after users punch in their private code and ask for what they need through a large digital screen. Their contents include free HIV self-testing kits, COVID-19 tests, clean needles, Naloxone, safe smoking kits for crack cocaine, lube and condoms. They also have feminine hygiene products, socks and mitts. And unlike other harm-reduction offerings, they’re available 24/7 to clients. In addition, Our Healthbox will inform people if there is a bad drug supply and offer education on things like how to administer Naloxone. Using the box is anonymous and free. Clients, who must be 16 and older, or 18 and older in Quebec, are given a code the first time they sign in that they use every time. Healthcare decision-makers might then use the information gathered to help them better know the needs of the area. Read: Pharmacy buying back used needles as part of harm-reduction strategy One of the four Our Healthbox boxes currently up and running is at Ensemble, a harm-reduction service in Moncton. The others at a Guardian Pharmacy, a church and the Woodstock First Nation Health Centre. Over the next three years, 100 will be installed across Canada. Clinical neuropsychologist Sean Rourke created the machines, working in the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, which is affiliated with Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital. He said 10% of people who have HIV in Canada don’t know it. “That’s about 7,000 people. Those people aren’t benefiting from treatment,” he said to the Toronto Star. Rourke’s team had previously launched an I’m Ready program, which let people get home HIV tests using an app. But it was hard for people without a phone or stable housing to access the kits that way, so they came up with the idea for Our Healthbox. Read: Activists say Canada's response to HIV, AIDS has stalled, call for more funding Rourke’s team is in talks with the provinces and some First Nations communities to see where the machines should go. “We want to really be in communities where there is the most need,” Rourke said. The machines will be funded mainly by the Public Health Agency of Canada for the next five years, and Rourke is in discussions with provincial health ministries over long-term funding. Ensemble, a harm-reduction service in Moncton which had the chance to try out the machines during the pandemic, said they were in high demand. “People came from everywhere in our community to access it. We could not keep up with the demand to keep the machines out,” Debby Warren, executive director at Ensemble, told the Star. The access to Naloxone kits, even when Ensemble was closed, was particularly valuable, she said. “Because we had the machine at night, they were able to still access it. It could have been quite a different outcome if we didn’t have Naloxone readily available 24/7.” Read: FIP releases handbook on pharmacists' role fighting HIV

Vending-machine style harm reduction comes to New Brunswick

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