Unequal health outcomes and unfair access to health care has been identified as a major problem in Canada, even though publically health care is available for all residents. People who use drugs and are street involved face major barriers to health care and their life expectancy is lower than those of the general public. A person’s social position is strongly tied to his/her quality of life and those at the bottom of the social ladder generally have the poorest health. The individual values of health care staff often get in the way of those that need health care the most.

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Harm Reduction Through A Social Justice Lens was published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, 19(1): 4-10, 2008