Syringe Service Programs Are Decreasing HIV Infections, Work Still Needs to be Done

On Nov. 30, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new Vital Signs report which shows an increased use of Syringe Service Programs (SSPs) -- programs that offer sterile needles and other injection equipment to reduce the risk of HIV transmission.

The SSPs also connect people who inject drugs to a number of other prevention, care and treatment services.

"The prescription opioid and heroin epidemics are devastating families and communities throughout the nation," CDC Director Tom Freiden said in a press release. "Our goal is for people to live long enough to stop substance use and not contract HIV or other serious infections while injecting -- SSPs can accomplish both."

According to the report, annual AIDS diagnoses among people who inject drugs have decreased by about 90 percent since 1993. Key findings show that about 54 percent of people who inject drugs in a 22-city CDC study reported that they used an SSD in 2015, compared to only 36 percent in 2005.

However, still only one-fourth of people who inject drugs reported using sterile needles in 2015, and one-third reported sharing needles in the same time period.

"Until now, the nation has made substantial progress in preventing HIV among people who inject drugs, but this success is threatened," Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention said in a press release. "Syringe services programs work, and their expansion is pivotal for progress in the coming decades."

This Vital Signs report that there still remains a need for sterile injecting equipment, as the risk for those who inject drugs to contract HIV, Hepatitis C and other infections is still very high. The risk, according to the report, may be even higher in rural areas where there sterile injecting equipment is more limited, as well as urban and suburban areas where SSPs are not allowed.

"CDC is working closely with our state and local partners to help bring syringe services programs to communities that need them," Eugene McCray, director of CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention said. "Comprehensive SSPs save lives - in the short term, by treating overdoses, and in the longer term by preventing HIV infection and helping people to stop using drugs."