Baltimore
Study
Finds
Needle
Exchange
Effective
8/13/99
Taylor West, [email protected] Baltimore this week celebrated the success of its extensive needle exchange program, one of the largest in the country. After five years of operation, the program has saved the city an estimated $30 million in AIDS patient care costs, a hefty sum in comparison to the $1.2 million the city has put into the program. By providing access to sterile syringes, the program cuts down on needle-sharing among injection drug users, a primary channel of HIV transmission. Among the clients of Baltimore's needle exchange, the HIV incidence level is 70% lower than that of the city's non-participating injection drug users. Dr. Peter Beilenson, Baltimore City Health Commissioner, said that the program has now enrolled over 9,000 participants and helped over 1,000 enter drug treatment. 2.5 million syringes have been exchanged, and Beilenson estimates that around 300 HIV cases have been prevented. Baltimore's success stands in stark contrast to the situation in nearby Washington, DC, where Congress has forbidden the use of city funds for needle exchange for the second year in a row. Washington, the city with the highest rate of injection-related HIV in the country, is served only by a single, small needle exchange program which is bankrolled entirely by private funds. Visit DRCNet's Syringe Exchange Resources Online (SERO), the most comprehensive collection of needle exchange information on the web, at http://www.projectsero.org.
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