Indiana’s governor is a counter-factual fool in dealing with the spread of AIDS

According to a New York Times article “Needle Exchange Is Allowed After H.I.V. Outbreak in an Indiana County.”

“An outbreak of H.I.V. in southeastern Indiana prompted the governor on Thursday to declare a public health emergency as officials worked to stop the spread of the virus that causes AIDS…

Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican, has long opposed such programs. But he said that the outbreak, which was first identified in late January, had reached epidemic proportions, justifying the action. “This is all hands on deck,” Mr. Pence said. “This is a very serious situation.”

Mr. Pence’s order, which is in effect for 30 days, would allow for a needle-exchange program within Scott County if one is requested by local officials.”

Thirty days! Can you imagine? Does he think that a syringe exchange is a 30 day magic bullet?

Of course providing clean syringes and both male and female condoms will dramatically reduce the spread of AIDS and hepatitis along with other social diseases by discouraging the sharing of syringes and preventing transmission through sexual contact. That is part of the mission of syringe exchanges.

The other part is gaining the confidence of addicts and to facilitating their access to treatment when they are ready to seek it.

Lancaster has an exchange. So does Harrisburg and Reading, and of course Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

The benighted governor is representative of counter-factual thinkers. They aren’t interested in science; only perpetuating their own prejudices. Or perhaps knowing better and simply playing to the prejudices of the voters.

For more information from the federal government and scientific journals, visit the chapter on Syringe Exchange at DrugWarFacts.org

Here are a couple of excerpts:

• Effectiveness

(Federal Research on Syringe Exchange Programs Proves Effectiveness) Between 1991 and 1997, the US Government funded seven reports on clean needle programs for persons who inject drugs. The reports are unanimous in their conclusions that clean needle programs reduce HIV transmission, and none found that clean needle programs caused rates of drug use to increase. The federal Department of Health and Human Services currently maintains a webpage on the effectiveness of syringe exchange programs is at http://www.samhsa.gov/ssp/, last accessed April 14, 2014.

Source:
National Commission on AIDS, The Twin Epidemics of Substance Abuse and HIV (Washington DC: National Commission on AIDS, 1991); General Accounting Office, Needle Exchange Programs: Research Suggests Promise as an AIDS Prevention Strategy (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1993); Lurie, P. & Reingold, A.L., et al., The Public Health Impact of Needle Exchange Programs in the United States and Abroad (San Francisco, CA: University of California, 1993); Satcher, David, MD, (Note to Jo Ivey Bouffard), The Clinton Administration’s Internal Reviews of Research on Needle Exchange Programs (Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control, December 10, 1993); National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, Normand, J., Vlahov, D. & Moses, L. (eds.), Preventing HIV Transmission: The Role of Sterile Needles and Bleach (Washington DC: National Academy Press, 1995); Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress, The Effectiveness of AIDS Prevention Efforts (Springfield, VA: National Technology Information Service, 1995); National Institutes of Health Consensus Panel, Interventions to Prevent HIV Risk Behaviors (Kensington, MD: National Institutes of Health Consensus Program Information Center, February 1997).

• In 1998, Donna Shalala, then Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Clinton Administration, stated: “A meticulous scientific review has now proven that needle exchange programs can reduce the transmission of HIV and save lives without losing ground in the battle against illegal drugs.”
Source:
Shalala, D.E., Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services, Press release from Department of Health and Human Services (April 20, 1998).
http://archive.hhs.gov/news/press/1998pres/980420a.html

• (NIDA Director Nora Volkow Endorses Effectiveness of Syringe Exchange in Reducing Risk of HIV Infection) “While it is not feasible to do a randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of needle or syringe exchange programs (NEPs/SEPs) in reducing HIV incidence, the majority of studies have shown that NEPs/SEPs are strongly associated with reductions in the spread of HIV when used as a component of comprehensive approach to HIV prevention. NEPs/SEPs increase the availability of sterile syringes and other injection equipment, and for exchange participants, this decreases the fraction of needles in circulation that are contaminated. This lower fraction of contaminated needles reduces the risk of injection with a contaminated needle and lowers the risk of HIV transmission.

“In addition to decreasing HIV infected needles in circulation through the physical exchange of syringes, most NEPs/SEPs are part of a comprehensive HIV prevention effort that may include education on risk reduction, and referral to drug addiction treatment, job or other social services, and these interventions may be responsible for a significant part of the overall effectiveness of NEPs/SEPs. NEPs/SEPs also provide an opportunity to reach out to populations that are often difficult to engage in treatment.”

Source:
Nora Volkow, Director, US National Institute on Drug Abuse, correspondence with Allan Clear, “NIH Response on Harm Reduction and Needle Exchange,” Aug. 4, 2004.
http://proxy.baremetal.com/csdp.org/research/re_souderzerhou.pdf
http://hepcproject.typepad.com/hep_c_project/2004/09/re_souderzerhou.htm…
– See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Syringe_Exchange#sthash.qRAKbg26.dpuf