Earlier this week, Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY) introduced the Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention Act. If the bill is passed, it would remove all legal barriers to States and local jurisdictions to spend federal funding that they receive for prevention of diseases directly on syringe exchange.
Syringe exchanges are a method of HIV prevention which helps intravenous drug users attain clean syringes in order to prevent sharing syringes that are potentially infected with HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis and other bloodborne diseases.
Eight federally funded research reports concluded that needle and syringe programs, as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention strategy, are an effective public health intervention that reduces HIV transmission without increasing the use of illicit drugs. Research has also shown that syringe programs are important in preventing hepatitis C transmission. The federal government certified in 1998 that syringe exchange reduces the transmission of HIV infections and does not raise the level of drug abuse. Transmission of HIV related to intravenous drug use continues to be a major issue. In 2006, the most recent year for which data is available, there were nearly 16,000 HIV/AIDS cases were reported, representing approximately 17% of the epidemic.
The bill currently has 30 co-sponsors, including Representatives Barbara Lee, Sam Farr, Michael Honda, Lucille Roybal-Allard, and Henry Waxman of California.
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