COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research examines the growth of syringe service programs in Ohio, and highlights the demand for continued support for them.
Also known as needle exchanges, SSPs provide access to sterile needles, and safe disposal of used needles, to people who use injection drugs.
Melissa Federman, Treuhaft chair for Health Planning at The Center for Community Solutions, explains these harm reduction programs reduce the spread of infectious diseases. She cites the success of the Cleveland program, which was Ohio’s only needle exchange for 20 years.
“We haven’t seen the spikes in Hepatitis C and HIV in Cuyahoga County that we’ve seen around the state,” she points out. “But what we also know about the exchanges is that clients who use them are five times more likely to engage in treatment services than their counterparts.”
The research from The Center for Community Solutions shows there were only six established needle exchanges in Ohio prior to 2016 when the state legalized local syringe programs. Ten more have opened since then, and another three are in development or newly launching.
Federman says most SSPs provide a number of other services that keep the public healthier, including disease testing and Hepatitis A and B vaccinations.
However, she notes most programs rely on private donations and volunteers, which can limit their reach.
“The syringe service program may exist only on Fridays,” she points out. “It may only exist on a Tuesday afternoon. And you see that all of them, as soon as they have additional funding, try to expand services, really, to meet the needs of their local clients.”
Federman adds several Ohio counties that are considered at risk for HIV outbreak do not have a needle exchange. She contends more private and public funding is needed.
“What we’re hoping for, especially because we continue to see gaps for counties at risk of outbreaks of HIV, that this becomes a call to action for additional and sustained funding for these programs,” she states.
The rate of new HIV infections among injection drug users in Ohio has doubled since 2012.
This article appears in Mar 6-12, 2019.
We have to fight the heroin epidemic in our communities so we give junkies a clean needle for to inject heroin with. Just give them the heroin too.
You’re part of the problem, dummy. It’s called harm reduction, addicts use whether they have a clean needle or not. When they don’t have easy access to clean needles, because of backwards dipshits like yourself, they share needles and pass around infectious diseases. These infectious diseases often wind up effecting non users, as diseases don’t discriminate. It’s better for everyone if they have clean needles. Europe figured out awhile ago that it’s even better if you also give them a safe space to inject, cuts down on both overdoses and nuisance complaints to the police, also helps keep them from driving under the influence and disposing of dirty needles in places where you might step on one. We can’t implement intelligent solutions like that because of idiots like yourself. Enjoy stepping on dirty needles.
“I can’t get a clean needle, so I just won’t use today” said absolutely no addict ever in the history of heroin use.
Moron.
Sounds like MUADIB has used their own safe space to inject before.
Don’t ever do heroin, or you will become a permanent burden to your family and community.
Absolutely, nobody should do heroin, ever, under any circumstances, but if you’re going to use heroin, use a clean needle from your local needle exchange and talk to them about getting yourself into treatment.
There are other ways to end up a permanent burden to everyone around you, and that’s taking five seconds to do some very shallow thinking about the problems we face, and then broadcasting your ass ignorant opinion to the world via the internet. Then, the rest of us have to pick up the slack of your stupidity on the net, and in the voting booth.
It’s called harm REDUCTION and not harm ELIMINATION for a reason. You’re still harming yourself and those around you by actively using. America isn’t the only country who’s had an opiate problem, maybe let’s figure out what worked in those places and implement it here? Nah, we’ll just keep doing what we’ve been doing, even though that’s how we ended up here in the first place.
I’m sorry you’re upset that I exposed your shallow thinking, moron. Maybe don’t post your dumbass thoughts on the internet, that way you won’t find out just how mentally deficient you are compared to, well, almost anyone. Ever heard of the Dunning-Krueger effect? What am I saying, of course you haven’t, maybe you should look it up and take more than five seconds to ponder it. Don’t hurt yourself.
Anyone ever ask these heroin users where they got their heroin from? If we found out, we could then go visit this person who sold it to them and ask them to stop selling heroin to people.