Staff Blog
Breaking: House subcommittee removed ban on needle exchange programs
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| Photo | Evan Lopez |
| Not every cause is a lost one. |
Last week, we reported on a local protest aimed at shaming President Obama into keeping various assurances he made to the HIV/AIDS prevention community, including lifting the decades-long ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs.
Then, yesterday, that protest went national when a group of activists stormed the Rotunda in D.C., making the same demands that were made here in Philadelphia — but now aiming them at Congress as it considers passing the Fiscal Year 2010 budget. Proponents want increased funding to fight global AIDS and a lift on the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs.
Just today, amazing news broke: In a press release issued by David R. Obey, Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Obey wrote the following:
One key exception that I want to mention concerns needle exchange programs. This bill deletes the prohibition on the use of funds for needle exchange programs. Scientific studies have documented that needle exchange programs, when implemented as part of a comprehensive prevention strategy, are an effective public health intervention for reducing AIDS/HIV infections and do not promote drug use. The judgment we make in this bill is that it is time to lift this ban and let State and local jurisdictions determine if they want to pursue this approach.
This isn't the end, as the measure still has to be approved by the Senate. But this is certainly a major, major victory for the prevention and harm reduction communities. It's understandable that needle exchange programs are hard to swallow for many people (including, until I learned more about the issue, me), but the science is clear: They reduce HIV/AIDS (as well as Hepatitis C) among needle drug users, and there is no evidence suggesting that the programming increases drug use.
I think there might be a few exception.
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