Syringe-Exchange Program in Indiana Leads to Sharp Decrease in Needle Sharing

A syringe-exchange program started in Indiana in response to an HIV outbreak has led to a significant drop in needle sharing among intravenous drug users, a new government study has found.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention evaluated data from 100 people who visited the needle exchange more than twice, with at least seven days between visits, between April and early June. USA Today reports. The exchange was launched in April.

Between the first and most recent visits, reports of needle sharing decreased by 85 percent, from 34 people to five. The number of people who re-used needles also dropped significantly, the article notes.

Indiana’s HIV outbreak included 181 cases, most of them linked to injecting the painkiller Opana. The state’s needle exchange program also provides wound kits, HIV testing, education and referrals to health care and addiction treatment services.

In March, Indiana Governor Mike Pence declared a public health emergency as the state battled the HIV outbreak. 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.

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

Lead researcher Monica Ruiz of George Washington University calculated 296 HIV infections would have occurred if the ban had not been lifted.