1991

In 1991, Kingston AIDS Project received funding to do HIV/AIDS prevention work among injection drug users [1]. Initially, their work focused on providing education and working with local prisoners living with, or at risk of, HIV/AIDS [1]. In a brilliant example of asking forgiveness rather than permission, the outreach workers used the program money to purchase syringes and began what would be Ontario’s third needle-and-syringe exchange program [2]. Only after tracking their progress for six to eight months, the outreach workers presented to the board of health on what they had been doing and received official permission for The Keep Six! Needle Exchange program. Distributing and exchanging injection supplies by bicycle, the outreach workers received requests on their pagers all hours of the day and night. They offered bleach kits, new needles, free condoms, and access to HIV/Hepatitis B testing and treatment programs [3]. The Keep Six! Program went on to become Street Health Centre [1] and quickly went on to outpace the needle exchange volume of major cities [2].  

Beyond needle-and-syringe exchange, Kingston AIDS Project, Keep Six! Needle Exchange, and Street Health provided community programs, access to resources, and mobilized people to advocate for their own health. 

The Kingston AIDS Project and Keep Six! Needle Exchange, as part of the wider AIDS movement, has many valuable lessons to offer, such as: stigma kills, prejudice is rampant in medical and pharmaceutical industries, and health is always political [1]. As exemplified through the work of Kingston AIDS Project, the AIDS movement introduced the concept of harm reduction into the mainstream [1].

1. Shore, R. 2022. In interview with author 

2. Shore, R. 2021. ‘Plants, People, Places: Rethinking the war on drugs’, The Skeleton Park Press, 6.

3. Kingston AIDs Project. 199-. ‘Keep Six! Kingston Needle Exchange’ (Poster)