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A federal report released Tuesday found that syringe exchange programs can curb the risk of HIV infections — news that comes less than a month after the Utah Department of Health began enrolling agencies in its own program.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found that HIV diagnoses among individuals who injected drugs in the U.S. decreased between 2008 and 2014 — 6,604 and 3,461, respectively. And since 1993, the number of AIDS diagnoses among people who injected drugs has decreased 90 percent, in part because of syringe exchange programs, center director Tom Frieden said Tuesday.
Still, in 2015, only 25 percent of people who injected drugs reported using only sterile syringes and needles, the report found, and 33 percent reported sharing syringes in the past year.
"There still is a large, unmet need for sterile injection equipment," Frieden said. "And these findings reinforce the concerns that HIV, hepatitis outbreaks could occur among this population in areas where comprehensive syringe services programs and other sources of sterile equipment is limited."
These programs become even more important, Frieden said, when the opioid abuse and misuse sweeping the country is taken into account. Utah is ranked fourth in the country for drug overdose deaths.
"Opiates are threatening progress in reversing HIV," he said. "We risk stalling or reversing decades of progress in HIV prevention, and the science shows syringe services programs work. They save lives and they save money."
This year, Utah joined 34 other states and Washington, D.C., in starting such a program, according to the North American Syringe Exchange Network.
Lawmakers passed a measure establishing the program — without allocating any funding toward it — earlier this year. A set of rules, such as requiring agencies to develop a safety protocol as well as a syringe disposal plan, governing the agencies who would operate them was approved this month.
Since then, two agencies — Life Changes Counseling in Heber City and the Utah Harm Reduction Coalition — have signed up to operate the program, said Heather Bush, the department's viral hepatitis and syringe exchange coordinator.
Both agencies are operated by Mindy Vincent, a licensed clinical social worker. She specializes in addiction therapy, among other things, at her counseling center, she said, but decided to launch the coalition to help people in a wider geographic area, first through mobile outreach.
Bush said she expects more agencies to sign up in a few months, but the lack of funding is a major issue for many agencies.
Funding was a big concern for officials at the Salt Lake County Health Department, who previously told The Salt Lake Tribune they were interested in operating a program.
Nicholas Rupp, department spokesman, said Tuesday they plan to wait for other agencies to enroll and then determine whether there are "service gaps."
Utah agencies who operate an exchange program must submit a safety protocol to the department to prevent injuries, as well as submit a syringe disposal plan. They also must provide new, clean syringes free of charge, but they also must give individuals receiving them instructions on how to prevent the transmission of diseases such as HIV, and referrals for HIV and hepatitis C testing as well as drug and alcohol treatment programs. They also must inform individuals of how and where to get naloxone, a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose.
Those who decide to conduct an exchange program must report data — including how many people exchanged syringes and how many referrals were provided — to the health department each quarter.
Twitter: @alexdstuckey