Needle Exchanges for People Who Use IV Drugs Prevent HIV Cases: Study

Allowing needles exchanges for people who use intravenous drugs in Washington, D.C. prevented 120 new cases of HIV in two years, a new study concludes.

Needle exchanges were banned by Congress in Washington, D.C. in 1998. Until 2007, the nation’s capital was not allowed to use its own money for exchanges, because Congress oversees its budget. The ban was lifted in late 2007, and the District’s health department began to offer clean syringes, as well as free condoms, HIV tests and referral to addiction treatment.

Lead researcher Monica Ruiz of George Washington University calculated 296 HIV infections would have occurred if the ban had not been lifted. In the two years after the ban was lifted, 176 cases actually occurred, meaning 120 cases had been prevented, USA Today reports.

The findings appear in AIDS and Behavior.

“Policy change makes a difference,” Ruiz said. “While this study looks at (Washington), D.C., we’re seeing the same thing in Indiana.”

In March, Indiana Governor Mike Pence declared a public health emergency as the state battled an outbreak of HIV linked to intravenous use of the painkiller Opana. The governor authorized a short-term program in one county to exchange used needles for sterile ones, to reduce the risk of contaminated needles being shared.

In May, Pence signed a law that extends the program, allowing Indiana localities with health emergencies to begin their own needle exchanges.

Kentucky passed a similar law after the state saw a rise in hepatitis C cases linked to injection drug abuse. West Virginia has approved a pilot needle exchange program that is scheduled to begin in September. Southern Ohio has had exchanges in two cities since 2012.