Needle exchanges

Wilkes is among five North Carolina counties identified as most vulnerable to rapid dissemination of HIV and hepatitis C infection among people who inject drugs intravenously.

This dubious distinction for Wilkes, Burke, Graham, Cherokee and Clay counties, all in the mountains, came from the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
According to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, the level of vulnerability is based on emergency department visits for opioid (including prescription pain pills) overdose, reported cases of acute hepatitis C, chronic hepatitis C data from Medicaid records, percent white population and percent  unemployment.
The CDC is issuing advisories nationwide to make physicians and local and state health officials aware of clusters of HIV and hepatitis C among intravenous drug users due to last year’s severe outbreak of HIV (the AIDS virus) in Austin, Ind.
This small Indiana town struggles with opioid abuse, typically prescription pain pills that are liquified for intravenous injection. Outbreaks of HIV and Hepatitis C can result, as was the case in Austin, Ind., when these blood-borne diseases are spread by people sharing needles.
Concern about the spread of HIV and hepatitis C through intravenous drug use resulted in approval of legislation legalizing needle exchange programs during the recent short session of the N.C. General Assembly. This action was included in House Bill 972, which has gone to Gov. Pat McCrory to be signed into law.
Elsewhere in the nation, needle exchange programs work by distributing clean needles in exchange for used ones. These programs often also offer a variety of related services, including referrals to drug treatment and HIV counseling and testing.
In addition to reducing the spread of HIV, hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases among intravenous drug users, needle exchange programs help protect law enforcement officers and other emergency personnel who often deal with drug users. They protect the public in general because used needles are often discarded along roads and elsewhere.
House Bill 972 requires that a program employee or volunteer offer personal consultation to educate individuals who request needles or syringes. Agencies with needle-exchange programs also must  report annually to the state.
Unfortunately, House Bill 972 forbids the use of public funds for needle exchange programs.
That means private treatment centers, nonprofits, foundations, hospitals and other entities not funded by the government will need to provide the money for needle exchange programs in North Carolina.
Local law enforcement officials believe the heroin epidemic that is elsewhere in North Carolina has finally found its way to Wilkes County, thereby likely worsening the spread of HIV and hepatitis C here through needle injections.
To help protect all North Carolinians, we hope legislators will reconsider the prohibition of public funds for needle exchange programs.