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Needle Exchange Programs
In The News
These articles are linked to their sources whenever possible.
Please read the following concerning my governments' inability to act and if you agree then:
Needle Donna Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services, with your opinion about federal funding of needle exchange programs for preventing the spread of AIDS, because new legislation gives her a March 31 deadline for making a decision. The Human Rights Campaign is urging calls to her now "to issue a report immediately stating that needle exchange programs are effective and do not increase illegal drug use" -- both of which have been proven to the satisfaction of scientists in the field, including a blue ribbon panel set up by the White House -- either by phoning (202) 690-7000 or by writing to her at the Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20201. Then tell your Senators and Congressmembers the same thing -- you can do it through the HRC online action center, by phone via the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 (where operators can also tell you who those people are), or postal mail 'em at either U.S. Senate/Washington, DC 20510 or U.S. House of Representatives/Washington, DC 20515.
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House Passes Federal Needle Exchange Ban
Major Set-Back for a Proven HIV Prevention Strategy
Washington, DC -- Today, the House of Representatives passed an amendment by a vote of 266-158 that would strip the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine that federal funds may be used for syringe exchange programs as a strategy for preventing HIV infection.
"The House of Representatives took a shameful action today. If this amendment is enacted into law, thousands of people will unnecessarily contract HIV," said A. Cornelius Baker, Executive Director of the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA). "We look now to the President and the Senate for leadership on this lifesaving measure," continued Baker.
Previously, the Congress placed a ban on federal funding of syringe exchange programs until the Surgeon General could demonstrate that syringe exchange programs do not increase drug use. Mike Shriver, NAPWA's Director of Public Policy commented, "Now that the science of needle exchange resoundingly shows that needle exchange does not increase drug use and is an effective strategy for reducing HIV transmission, we are truly saddened that the actions of the House of Representatives reflect a disregard for the lives of people for whom HIV infection could be prevented."
The House passed measure today was sponsored by Congressman Wicker (R-MS) and Congressman Hastert (R-IL) as an amendment to the Labor/HHS Appropriations Bill. For more information about the science of syringe exchange programs as an HIV prevention strategy, please see the Summer 1997 issue of The Active Voice, NAPWA's public policy newsletter available via the Internet at http://www.napwa.org, or via NAPWA-Fax (a free fax-on-demand service) by calling 202.789.2222 from the handset of your fax machine.
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AIDS ACTION NETWORK ALERT
November 21, 1997
** Network Action Needed: Time Is Now for Shalala to Make Determination on
Syringe Exchange Programs **
The Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor/HHS) FY 98 appropriations bill
was completed by Congress nearly two weeks ago and signed by President Clinton on November
13. The final version of the bill (see November 11 AIDS Action Network Alert) maintains
the authority of the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to allow
federal funding of syringe
exchange programs, but there is a moratorium - through March 31, 1998 - on her exercising
that authority. Congress also established conditions under which federally funded syringe
exchange programs would operate.
The AIDS Action community did its work during the appropriations process to defend the
secretary's authority on this issue. Now is the time for Secretary of Health and Human
Services Donna Shalala to take action. Although she cannot actually release federal funds
for these programs until the moratorium is ended, there are preparatory measures Secretary
Shalala can and must take in order for these funds to be released on April 1.
The first step is for Secretary Shalala to announce her determination that syringe
exchange programs reduce the risk of HIV transmission and do not increase the use of
illegal drugs. There is ample research, including a report published by the Department of
Health and Human Services last February, to support these two conclusions. The science is
there; action is needed.
It is our hope that Secretary Shalala will make such an announcement before Congress
returns in January, when political rhetoric surrounding this issue may re-escalate and
threaten to overwhelm the voice of science. The sooner the determination is made, the
sooner other preparations can be made for Secretary Shalala to make federal funds
available for these programs.
* * * AIDS ACTION:
Contact (phone, fax, or letter) Secretary Shalala. Ask her to make a determination that
syringe exchange programs can be effective in combating HIV transmission and do not
increase illegal drug use. Remind her that scientific evidence supports these conclusions.
Tell her that the time for such an
announcement is now.
Write: Donna E. Shalala
Secretary of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Ave., S.W., Rm. 615F
Washington, DC 20201
Call: (202) 690-7000
Fax: (202) 690-7203
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For more information, contact:
AIDS Action
Kurt Schade, Network Correspondent
1875 Connecticut Ave., Suite 700
Washington, DC 20009
phone:(202) 986-1300, ext. 3060
fax: (202) 986-1345
e-mail: network@aidsaction.org
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US May Move on Needle Exchange
SUMMARY:
The Clinton administration inched toward lifting the ban on federal funding of needle exchange programs -- make that half an inch. Activists are applauding an HHS report that admits the programs' effectiveness, although no proposal was offered.It's a step so small you almost have to be inside the Beltway to see it, and yet it may signal the beginning of government action against AIDS that ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) has been demanding for years, joined in those demands more recently by the gay and lesbian advocacy group Human Rights Campaign: an end to the ban on federal funding of needle exchange programs. It certainly didn't hurt the cause that a hand-picked panel of experts meeting at the National Institutes of Health recently endorsed needle exchange as a successful HIV transmission prevention method, while decrying the kind of "morality" that stood in the way of saving lives.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala actually gave only the merest hint of potential movement on the needle ban in a report to a Senate subcommittee chaired by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), but it was still the most aggressive move to date by any administration on the issue. The report stated that research has found needle exchange programs "can be an effective component of a comprehensive strategy to prevent HIV" and "can have an impact on bringing difficult-to-reach populations" into treatment.
The Human Rights Campaign's Winnie Stachelberg called it, "the only scientifically honest conclusion possible," and yet, "the first time in the history of the AIDS epidemic that the federal government has publicly stated this conclusion."
It's a huge new admission for the U.S. government, but it's an easy conclusion to reach. There are needle exchange programs now operating in more than 50 U.S. cities, supported by private funds, and they've been carried out in other countries as well. Some of the success rates reported have been no less than dramatic. At this time, perhaps 1/3 of the new AIDS cases in the U.S. result directly from needle-sharing, while many more result from sexual transmission by injection drug users.
The scientific proof of effectiveness was the one door left open to federal support of needle exchange when Congress put the ban in place in 1988. Lawmakers then as now certainly did not want to appear to be encouraging or even condoning the use of illegal drugs, as they perceived needle exchange would do -- just as those who oppose condom distribution perceive it as encouraging or condoning promiscuity. Shalala's report mentioned research indicating that needle exchange programs do not in fact increase injection drug use, while side-stepping the more enthusiastic reports that suggest that the exchanges may actually bring some needle users into recovery programs.
Following a briefing on the report by Shalala staffers, activists including a representative of the National Association of People With AIDS believed that the administration is committed to working with them towards lifting the needle exchange funding ban.
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More information on the effectiveness of NEP's More articles & links on this important issue.
My Paper A little old, but still relevant.
Guide to cleaning needles Information and a diagram on how to keep your syringes cleaner.
Hepatitis C An article with info about another virus that drug users can get
Needle Exchange Back to the main page
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