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Syringe Exchange: lack of acceptance
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When it comes to drug users & HIV, ideology kills
BY ROSEANNE SCOTTI
http://www.nydailynews.com
In and around the 16th International AIDS Conference that wrapped up last week in Toronto, there was plenty of feel-good discussion about how far the United States has come in the battle against HIV/AIDS.
But there has been little talk about one shameful fact: Despite overwhelming scientific evidence that syringe exchange programs save lives, the U.S. government refuses to adopt this common-sense method to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among people who inject drugs.
The consequences of the failure are significant. At least 6,000 intravenous drug users die from AIDS every year in the United States. And in the U.S., a very high 22% of HIV infections are caused by the sharing of contaminated syringes. Compare that to the percentages of industrialized countries that have implemented syringe exchange programs: in Australia, 4%; in the United Kingdom, 6%; in Canada, 17%.
Even Iran - a repressive and ideological regime in so many ways - recently began establishing syringe exchange programs to combat its growing HIV/AIDS problem. That places in still sharper relief just how far the United States lags behind in implementing this proven HIV/AIDS prevention strategy.
There's a reason the programs are spreading: They work. Every medical, scientific and professional body to study the issue has concluded that they reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS - and do not encourage drug abuse. This includes the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the National Academy of Sciences, the surgeon general of the United States, the National Institutes of Health Consensus Panel and the AIDS Advisory Commissions of the first President Bush and President Clinton.
The U.S. government's response to this mountain of scientific support? Silence. In polite American political discussion, syringe exchange programs remain a taboo subject. An explicit ban on the use of federal money for syringe exchange programs remains in place - with the U.S. government having spent not one penny in 25 years on such programs. The United States is the only country in the world with such a ban.
The AIDS epidemic has been a reality for a quarter-century. In the early days of the disease, fear, hysteria and stigma surrounded it. Those who were diagnosed with HIV lived in terror that friends, loved ones and employers might find out. Some religious congregations expelled HIV positive congregants. In 1999, TV's Judge Judy (Judy Sheindlin), responding to a question about syringe exchange programs, said, "Give them all dirty needles and let them die."
We pride ourselves that we have come far since those dark days.
But have we? At least when it comes to preventing HIV/AIDS among people who inject drugs, our government defies logic and ignores science. It turns its back on its most vulnerable citizens, refusing to allow them access to a lifesaving health intervention.
Scotti is the director of Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey.
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