Today, the NAACP, the National Urban League, and others joined the Harm Reduction Coalition in urging Congress to repeal a 20-year-old ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs. HRC said the campaign to lift the ban was coordinated to coincide with National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. "We are talking about saving lives," said Allan Clear, HRC's executive director.
Across the country, more than 200 needle exchanges have been established in a bid to slow the spread of HIV and other blood-borne infections among injecting drug users. The ban on federal money for these programs leaves them at the mercy of changing economic conditions and can deter local and state officials from supporting needle exchange, advocates say.
Needle exchanges reduce disease transmission and bring more drug users into supportive facilities where they can obtain social services and treatment, supporters say. "They do not encourage drug use," said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), one of the leading congressional opponents of the ban. "These programs are the way you really reach these drug users and help them end their addiction."
Roughly one-third of new HIV cases in the United States are linked to injection drug use, and blacks account for a higher proportion of these cases than whites.
HRC's policy director, Daniel Raymond, said an estimated 1 million people in the United States inject drugs, and less than 20 percent use needle exchange programs. "There's a huge unmet need," said Raymond. "Even in places where there are programs, they can't always meet the demand."
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Wednesday he supports needle exchange programs. And in a separate statement, Fauci termed the rising rates of HIV/AIDS among blacks a calamity that requires "drastic action."
02/07/08
Civil Rights Groups, Others Seek End to Ban on US Federal Funding for Needle Exchange
Source: http://www.ap.org/ ::David Crary; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention