Needle exchange philadelphia pa

JHF also provides funding support to PublicSource. And when needles are shared, outbreaks of HIV and hepatitis C can follow. Underground exchanges are operating in Lancaster and Harrisburg, both with implied support from local officials, as well as in Reading.

Scott Burris, professor of law at Temple University, says the flare-up of HIV in the state of Indiana should serve as a cautionary tale. In rural areas, Burris said, drug users are part of a close-knit community. They tend to know each other, and they tend to inject together. That means if one person has a bloodborne disease, it can spread quickly to anyone sharing the same needle. HIV and hepatitis C can spread to non-drug users through other means, including sexual contact. Both HIV and hepatitis C can be deadly and are extremely expensive to treat.

Nationwide, acute cases of hepatitis C spiked 75 percent from to , which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention attributes mostly to drug use by young, white people in nonurban areas.

In Pennsylvania — which has a drug problem that includes that exact demographic — acute cases of hepatitis C more than doubled over the same period. The state has not pinpointed a cause for the increase. Both the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs say they want to prevent the spread of bloodborne diseases. But they also lack the authority to implement or invest resources in needle exchanges. Pennsylvania gives no money to exchanges, and Congress in December reinstituted a decades-old federal ban on funding exchanges.

This means programs are dependent on limited private grant money and local support. Charlie Dent R-Pa. To him, harm reduction means interdicting drugs and getting users to treatment. Exchange opponents argue that the programs encourage drug use, saying in essence that fewer people would inject heroin if fewer sterile syringes were available.

The federal funding ban was lifted briefly in , with support from the Obama administration and AIDS activists. The research on bloodborne diseases has existed for many years and is backed by public health experts across the country, including those in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Get more info on state guidelines.

Chambersburg Police Department. Klingensmith's Drug Store-Ford City. Klingensmith's Drug Store-Kittanning. Klingensmith's Drug Store-West Kittanning. Lancaster County Needle Clipper Program. Klingensmith's Drug Store-Leechburg. Philly rep. Brian Sims is a big supporter of the bill. If it can be effective in Philadelphia, it can be effective statewide.

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