Harm Reduction Vending Machine "Our Healthbox" Launches in Brantford

Brantford, ONT. – The Brant County Health Unit (BCHU), in collaboration with SOAR Community Services (formerly St. Leonard's Community Services) and REACH Nexus, a research group housed at MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, is proud to announce the launch of Our Healthbox, a harm reduction vending machine now located at 133 Elgin St in Brantford

The ‘smart’ machine, called Our Healthbox, works like a vending machine, and also provides health information and a service directory for people to find much-needed health care and supports in their community. The initiative launched at SOAR Community Services on June 13, 2024.

This innovative project aims to provide harm reduction supplies to community members 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, significantly reducing barriers and expanding access to vital resources by giving clients a place to obtain harm reduction supplies outside of SOAR’s regular business hours.

Our Healthbox will greatly benefit the BrantfordBrant community which continues to face a higherthan-average rate of overdoses and overdose-related deaths when compared to the rest of the province The machine will be operation outside regular business hours when SOAR is closed: between 5 pm and 9 am, Monday to Friday, 24 hours a day on weekends and statutory holidays.

Our Healthbox is another step towards ensuring the safety and well-being of at-risk community members. It will provide low barrier access to essential items such as naloxone kits, safer sex supplies, HIV selftesting kits, and other harm-reduction supplies, contributing to a safer and healthier environment for all.

This initiative aligns with broader harm reduction strategies aimed at minimizing the negative consequences of drug use while promoting dignity, respect, and compassion for all individuals.

"We are proud to be part of this collaborative effort, that we hope will have a positive impact on overdose rates in Brantford," said Kim Baker, Executive Director of Services at SOAR. "By making harm reduction supplies more accessible, we hope to save lives and improve outcomes of those in need ”

The initiative launches as new HIV cases in Canada rise and the country’s opioid crisis claims the lives of 21 Canadians each day Providing access to harm reduction and health care supplies for free to people in spaces they frequent is a strategy experts consider as key to reaching people who are underserved and who have barriers to accessing testing, harm reduction materials, treatment, care and prevention due to racism, homophobia, stigma and discrimination.

“Everyone in Canada deserves to have what they need, when they need it, to take care of their health. But we know that this is not the case, and so we are doing everything we can to bridge that gap in ways that work for each person in their community,” said Dr Sean B Rourke, a scientist at MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, a worldleading research centre housed at St Michael’s Hospital As Director of REACH Nexus at MAP, he leads a national research and public health group working on how to make sure everyone who needs access to testing (especially those who are undiagnosed), treatment and care for HIV, Hepatitis C and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (e.g., syphilis) can get what they need to stay healthy and thrive.

For more information on the Our Healthbox, go to the BCHU website at: www.bchu.org/where-to-gethelp#1