Original research
by
Houdroge, Farah et al
Release Date
2024
Geography
Canada
Language of Resource
English
Full Text Available
Yes
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
Yes
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Objective
We sought to assess the return on investment of existing Prison Needle Exchange Programs (PNEPs) in Canadian federal prisons and their expansion to all 43 institutions.
Findings/Key points
Every dollar invested in the current PNEP or its expansion is estimated to save $2 in hepatitis C and injection-related infection treatment costs. This return on investment strongly supports ongoing maintenance and scale-up of the PNEP in Canada from an economic perspective.
Design/methods
We developed a stochastic compartmental model that estimated hepatitis C and injection-related infections under different PNEP scenarios in Canadian federal prisons. We calculated the benefit–cost ratio as benefits from health care savings, divided by PNEP costs.
Keywords
Injecting drugs
Harm reduction
Legal system/law enforcement
Policy/Regulatory
Social benefits
Social services
