The Injection Support Team: a peer-driven program to address unsafe injecting in a Canadian setting.

In 2005, members of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) formed the Injection Support Team (IST). A community-based research project examined this drug-user-led intervention through observation of team activities, over 30 interviews with team members, and 9 interviews with people reached by the team. The IST is composed of recognized "hit doctors," who perform outreach in the open drug scene to provide safer injecting education and instruction regarding safer assisted-injection. The IST represents a unique drug-user-led response to the gaps in local harm reduction efforts including programmatic barriers to attending the local supervised injection facility.