Community activists in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside hosted a health fair Thursday with booths on everything from safe drug injection to Aboriginal wellness.
Yet, at a time when the country is bracing for outbreaks of H1N1 flu, there were no hand sanitizer bottles or swine flu pamphlets in sight.
"I don't think people are really aware of it. Down here, there's so much going around. It's just another illness," said Hugh Lampkin of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users.
That doesn't mean people aren't worried.
Lampkin has heard people complain of stomach pains, diarrhea and a lack of energy.
"It could mean the death of many many people down here. HIV, AIDS, Hep C. These are people who are just not well," Lampkin said.
If there was a large outbreak of H1N1 in B.C. poorest neighbourhood, it could easily move to other communities.
"A lot of people come down here to party on the weekend, and they will catch it and take it out," Lampkin said.
Fred Joseph, who is staying in a recovery house in Surrey, says the directors there are panicking.
"In our houses they told us to stay clean, to be clean...to wash our hands all the time," he said.
An H1N1 immunization campaign is planned in the Downtown Eastside in November.
Nurses will hit the streets to make sure people are protected.
Reka Gustafson, medical health officer with Vancouver Coastal Health, said officials have always considered the Downtown Eastside a vulnerable population.
"We will proactively immunize the population through the blitz," she said.
So why weren't they at Thursday's fair?
Gustafson said they weren't aware of it.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Leah Hendry.
