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Background: In many jurisdictions, policies restrict access to Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT) in correctional facilities. Receipt of OAT during incarceration is associated with reduced risk of fatal overdose after release but little is known about the effect on nonfatal overdose. This study aimed to examine the association between OAT use during incarceration and nonfatal overdose in the 30 days following release. Methods and findings: Using linked administrative healthcare and corrections data for a random sample of 20% of residents of British Columbia, Canada we examined releases from provincial correctional facilities between January 1, 2015 –December 1, 2018, among adults (aged 18 or older at the time of release) with Opioid Use Disorder. We fit Andersen-Gill models to examine the association between receipt of OAT in custody and the hazard of nonfatal following release. We conducted secondary analyses to examine the association among people continuing treatment initiated prior to their arrest and people who initiated a new episode of OAT in custody separately. We also conducted sex-based subgroup analyses. In this study there were 4,738 releases of 1,535 people with Opioid Use Disorder. In adjusted analysis, receipt of OAT in custody was associated with a reduced hazard of nonfatal overdose (aHR 0.55, 95% CI 0.41, 0.74). This was found for prescriptions continued from community (aHR 0.49, 95%CI 0.36, 0.67) and for episodes of OAT initiated in custody (aHR 0.58, 95%CI 0.41, 0.82). The effect was greater among women than men. Conclusions: OAT receipt during incarceration is associated with a reduced hazard of nonfatal overdose after release. Policies to expand access to OAT in correctional facilities, including initiating treatment, may help reduce harms related to nonfatal overdose in the weeks following release. Differences in the effect seen among women and men indicate a need for gender-responsive policies and programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a correction notice for an article discussing the role of community pharmacies in providing take-home naloxone in British Columbia. The correction states that there was an error in Table 4, which has been corrected in the document. The article presents data on the distribution of take-home naloxone kits in British Columbia, showing that 4.0% of individuals personally at risk of overdose received a kit, while 12.9% of those not personally at risk received a kit. The reasons for collecting a kit varied, and the data also provides information on the distribution of kits by health authority. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Co-occurrence of social conditions and infections may affect HIV/HCV disease risk and progression. We examined the changes in relationship of these social conditions and infections on HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections over time in British Columbia during 1990–2013. Methods: The BC Hepatitis Testers Cohort (BC-HTC) includes ~1.5 million individuals tested for HIV or HCV, or reported as a case of HCV, HIV, HBV, or tuberculosis linked to administrative healthcare databases. We classified HCV and HIV infection status into five combinations: HIV-/HCV-, HIV+monoinfected, HIV-/HCV+seroconverters, HIV-/HCV+prevalent, and HIV+/HCV+. Results: Of 1.37 million eligible individuals, 4.1% were HIV-/HCV+prevalent, 0.5% HIV+monoinfected, 0.3% HIV+/HCV+ co-infected and 0.5% HIV-/HCV+seroconverters. Overall, HIV+monoinfected individuals lived in urban areas (92%), had low injection drug use (IDU) (4%), problematic alcohol use (4%) and were materially more privileged than other groups. HIV+/HCV+ co-infected and HIV-/HCV+seroconverters were materially most deprived (37%, 32%), had higher IDU (28%, 49%), problematic alcohol use (14%, 17%) and major mental illnesses (12%, 21%). IDU, opioid substitution therapy, and material deprivation increased in HIV-/HCV+seroconverters over time. In multivariable multinomial regression models, over time, the odds of IDU declined among HIV-/HCV+prevalent and HIV+monoinfected individuals but not in HIV-/HCV+seroconverters. Declines in odds of problematic alcohol use were observed in HIV-/HCV+seroconverters and coinfected individuals over time. Conclusions: These results highlight need for designing prevention, care and support services for HIV and HCV infected populations based on the evolving syndemics of infections and social conditions which vary across groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]