The Potential Role for Supervised Injection Facilities in Canada’s Largest City, Toronto

• Published date: 01 September 2015
• Author: Andrew A. Reid,Ehsan Jozaghi
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567715583516
• Date: 01 September 2015
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

The Potential Role for

Supervised Injection

Facilities in Canada’s

Largest City, Toronto

Ehsan Jozaghi

1

and Andrew A. Reid

1

Abstract

Supervised injection facilities (SIFs) or supervised consumption rooms are a component of harm

reduction strategies that attempt to reduce drug overdoses and risky injection behaviors among

injection drug users. The purpose of this study is to determine whether expanding SIFs into the City

of Toronto, Ontario, would be a fiscally responsible decision. By analyzing secondary data gathered

in 2013, this article relies on mathematical models to estimate the number of new HIV and hepatitis

C virus infections prevented as a result of SIF locations in Toronto. After factoring in the costs

associated with SIFs, the models produce cost–benefit and cost-effectiveness outputs. With very

conservative estimates, it is predicted that establishing SIF locations in Toronto is cost effective with

an average benefit–cost ratio of 1:1.2 for the first two facilities based on the sensitivity analysis at

30% sharing rate. Consequently, funding SIFs in Canada’s largest city appears to be an efficient and

effective use of financial resources in the public health domain with cost savings in excess of

CAN$728,620 per year for the first two facilities.

Keywords

supervised injection facility, supervised consumption rooms, cost–benefit, cost-effectiveness,

injection drug users

Introduction

The injection of illicit drugs is associated with many serious health concerns. Drug overdose

and diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

(HIV/AIDS) and hepatitis C virus (HCV), for example, have been found to be among the leading

causes of death for people who inject drugs (Mathers et al., 2013). In addition, high rates of abscess,

endocarditis, and osteomyelitis have been found among injection drug user (IDU) populations

1

School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Corresponding Author:

Ehsan Jozaghi, School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

V5A 1S6.

Email: eja2@sfu.ca

International CriminalJustice Review

2015, Vol. 25(3) 233-246

ª2015 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/1057567715583516

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