1. Needle Exchange Programs Jessica Sullivan Health Education & Behavior

2. We Will Cover… What the program is and how it got started What the program is and how it got started How they work How they work Cost effectiveness Cost effectiveness Sources include studies by: National Institute of Health National Institute of Medicine Surgeon General

3. Groundwork HIV is directly caused by intravenous drug use over 50% of the time and is indirectly related 75% of the time. HIV is directly caused by intravenous drug use over 50% of the time and is indirectly related 75% of the time.

4. Where They Started Needle Exchange Programs (NEPs) began in 1983 Reduce the spread of HIV

5. What They Do They exchange needles- not distribute them Over 80 cities in 38 states in the U.S. currently have these programs

6. NEPs Reduce HIV Surgeon General’s Study Surgeon General’s Study Nat’l Institute of Health’s Study Nat’l Institute of Health’s Study Nat’l Institute of Medicine’s Study Nat’l Institute of Medicine’s Study 7 Independent U.S. Government Sponsored Studies 7 Independent U.S. Government Sponsored Studies

7. Do NOT Increase Drug Use Surgeon General’s Study ALL 7 of the individual U.S. Government Studies Significant increase in patient admittance into drug rehab centers

8. Where They Have Worked Southern Australia: No new HIV cases for 3 years Hawaii: Rates if infection have decreased from 5% to 1% over 7 years

9. Cost Effective Costs $169,000 per year to run an NEP Costs $169,000 per year to run an NEP Syringe = $1.35 Syringe = $1.35 Saving 2 people a year from HIV would pay for the center Saving 2 people a year from HIV would pay for the center

10. Conclusion We talked about: –What NEPs are –How they work –Cost effectiveness NEPs are effective and inexpensive and could save the lives of tens of thousands