APHA calls for needle exchange support.

As HIV continues to pose serious public health problems, policy-makers must throw their support behind evidence-based prevention programs, including needle exchange, APHA urged in July.

In a letter to Reps. David Obey, D-Wis., and Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., APHA and fellow advocates urged policy-makers to support removing the ban against using federal funds for needle exchange. Usually included in federal appropriations legislation, the ban was removed from the fiscal year 2010 labor, health and human services appropriations bill now moving through Congress. The letter, which was initiated by the Foundation for AIDS Research, also known as amfAR, highlighted President Barack Obama's stated commitment to reducing HIV incidence, noting that "accomplishing this laudable goal will require implementation of all available proven effective HIV prevention programs, including needle exchange programs."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, injection drug users make up 16 percent of all new U.S. HIV infections, however, public health agencies have been banned from using federal funds for needle exchange since 1988.

"Numerous scientific studies, including several studies funded by the federal government, have established that needle exchange programs, when implemented as part of a comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention strategy, are an effective HIV prevention intervention and do not promote drug use," the letter stated.

APHA and colleagues also noted that removing the federal funding ban does not require state and local officials to enact needle exchange programs.