Pubdate: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 Source: Washington Post (DC) Page: A20 Copyright: 2009 The Washington Post Company Contact: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange) STICKING POINT Congress Could End the Ban on Federal Funding of Needle Exchange Programs -- and Still Kill D.C.'s Vital Effort. AFTER SECURING the right from Congress last year to use its own money to fund needle exchange programs last year, the District stands to lose it. Confusingly, the threat is wrapped up in legislation that ostensibly would lift a 21-year-old ban on using federal money to fund syringe-swapping groups. We say "ostensibly" because the restrictions on where those organizations could operate are so broad that they would effectively shut down the city's only program. The House voted to end a 21-year-old ban and allow federal funding of needle exchange programs. It also voted to allow the District to use its own money for such a program. There's one catch: the programs cannot be located "within 1,000 feet of a public or private day care center, elementary school, vocational school, secondary school, college, junior college, or university, or any public swimming pool, park, playground, video arcade, or youth center, or an event sponsored by any such entity." This would render whole sections of cities off-limits. And it would effectively kill the District's one needle exchange program. None of this is a done deal. The Senate version of the bill doesn't have those onerous restrictions. When the House and Senate meet in conference committee to hash out the final legislation, this restrictive language must be removed. Since the 1990s, studies have shown that needle exchange programs work. They are effective in reducing the spread of HIV while not increasing drug use. Just ask the learned people at the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization. An 80 percent reduction in the incidence of HIV in intravenous drug users over the past 20 years can be attributed in part to needle exchange programs funded by localities and private organizations, according to a 2008 report from the CDC. Those still resistant to the facts should look at communities and urban areas grappling with the HIV/AIDS epidemic to understand the importance of making all possible funds available to effectively fight the epidemic. They need only look out of their Washington window. An astounding 3 percent of District residents are living with HIV/AIDS. Intravenous drug use is the third-most-common mode of transmission. "People have been playing politics with people's health . . . for years," D.C. Councilmember David A. Catania (I-At Large) told The Post. It's time for them to stop. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake