My Health is My Right
I have a right to non-judgemental health care

People with addictions face stigma, social exclusion and criminalization, placing substantial barriers on their ability to access health care. For people who use drugs, and especially those who inject drugs, these barriers are incredibly harmful -- people not only risk fatal overdose, they also risk exposure to HIV and other transmissible diseases.

Expanding HIV testing and treatment, together with other harm reduction interventions, has proven to be highly successful in reducing the risks associated with sex work and injection drug use. In Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, for example, HIV diagnoses in people who inject drugs have fallen by more than 90% since the peak of the epidemic in 1996.

Confidential and non-judgmental health care is everyone’s right. This includes HIV testing and treatment -- which for many, can represent the first step to accessing life-saving health care.

Treatment can be as little as one pill a day and is available at no cost. AND it works even if a person is still using.

Health outreach nurses are available across the region to provide HIV testing. Testing is free and can take as little as 60 seconds, with the results shared just between the patient and nurse.

Health care – it’s everyone’s right.