ArticleHarm reduction journal2014
A cost-benefit/cost-effectiveness analysis of an unsanctioned supervised smoking facility in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Canada.
Article in Harm reduction journal, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Comparison of the Treatments in Crack Use Disorder: A Systematic Review.European addiction research · 2026Pooled it
- Economic Evaluations of Establishing Opioid Overdose Prevention Centers in 12 North American Cities: A Systematic Review.Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research · 2024Pooled it
- Public Health and Public Order Outcomes Associated with Supervised Drug Consumption Facilities: a Systematic Review.Current HIV/AIDS reports · 2017Pooled it
- A community-based systematic review of economic evaluations of overdose prevention sites for people who use drugs: a study protocol.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2026Article
- Article
- The power of people who use drugs as mass media influencers in changing public opinion during the global overdose epidemic.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2026Article
- A major stakeholder in the lobbying efforts: the role of people who use drugs in the past and the current opioid crisis.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Facilitating access to supervised smoking facilities: a qualitative study.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- The implementation of safer drug consumption facilities in Scotland: a mixed methods needs assessment and feasibility study for the city of Edinburgh.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Modeling the impact of a supervised consumption site on HIV and HCV transmission among people who inject drugs in three counties in California, USA.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Article
- Overdose prevention centres as spaces of safety, trust and inclusion: A causal pathway based on a realist review.Drug and alcohol review · 2024Review
- The opioid epidemic and accessibility to free Wi-Fi: internet access is a human rights issue.Harm reduction journal · 2024Review
- Cost-effectiveness of drug consumption rooms in France: a modelling study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Upper Extremity Infection Related to Intravenous Drug Use: Considering the True Cost of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdown.Hand (New York, N.Y.) · 2023Article
- Supervised smoking facility access, harm reduction practices, and substance use changes during the COVID-19 pandemic: a community-engaged cross-sectional study.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- The estimated costs and benefits of a hypothetical supervised consumption site in Providence, Rhode Island.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
- Access to oral care is a human rights issue: a community action report from the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Canada.Harm reduction journal · 2022Review
- Supervised consumption site enables cost savings by avoiding emergency services: a cost analysis study.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
- Hoots and harm reduction: a qualitative study identifying gaps in overdose prevention among women who smoke drugs.Harm reduction journal · 2021Article
- To what extent do supervised drug consumption services incorporate non-injection routes of administration? A systematic scoping review documenting existing facilities.Harm reduction journal · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSmoking crack involves the risk of transmitting diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C (HCV). The current study determines whether the formerly unsanctioned supervised smoking facility (SSF)-operated by the grassroot organization, Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) for the last few years-costs less than the costs incurred for health-care services as a direct consequence of not having such a program in Vancouver, Canada.
methodsThe data pertaining to the attendance at the SSF was gathered in 2012-2013 by VANDU. By relying on this data, a mathematical model was employed to estimate the number of HCV infections prevented by the former facility in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES).
resultsThe DTES SSF's benefit-cost ratio was conservatively estimated at 12.1:1 due to its low operating cost. The study used 70% and 90% initial pipe-sharing rates for sensitivity analysis. At 80% sharing rate, the marginal HCV cases prevented were determined to be 55 cases. Moreover, at 80% sharing rate, the marginal cost-effectiveness ratio ranges from $1,705 to $97,203. The results from both the baseline and sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the establishment of the SSF by VANDU on average had annually saved CAD$1.8 million dollars in taxpayer's money.
conclusionsFunding SSFs in Vancouver is an efficient and effective use of financial resources in the public health domain; therefore, Vancouver Coastal Health should actively participate in their establishment in order to reduce HCV and other blood-borne infections such as HIV within the non-injecting drug users.
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Registered trials
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