Syringe Exchange Programs A Matter of Public Health Essay

According to the World Health Organization, â€Å"globally there are approximately 16 million people that inject drugs and 3 million of them are living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).† Once someone is infected with HIV, it is almost always fatal since there is currently no cure for the disease. A major component of HIV prevention is the Syringe Exchange Programs (SEP’s). SEP’s are one of the main resolutions that targets curbing the spread of blood-borne viruses among injecting drug users (IDU’s). With an estimated 1 in 5 injecting drug users worldwide infected with HIV, the program is vital to bringing this epidemic under control. 60 countries worldwide have reported HIV among IDUs and an additional 40 countries report a rash of†¦show more content†¦The professors said â€Å"that addicts should not be the focus of HIV prevention efforts because they would not change their behavior.† Parker was outraged and organized meetings wi th IDUs to warn them of HIV transference. In one of his meetings two addicts came in with clean syringes, their actions motivated him. In 1986, Parker began distributing and exchanging needles and syringes on the streets of New Haven and Boston, Massachusetts. He has been arrested several times in eight states where it is still illegal to purchase syringes without a prescription. Because of foundational work by Jon Parker and the work in Amsterdam, in two year later the first SEP operated with a bit of community consent opened in Tacoma. In the same year, two more exchange programs surfaced, one in New York and another in San Francisco. Today, there are currently 203 exchange programs operating. Despite the â€Å"on and off† support from private state and local funding and help from activist and advocates keep the programs afloat. A major life saving component of SEPs is harm reduction. One aspect of harm reduction is public health which is: the practice of preventing disea se and promoting good health within people, from small communities to entire countries. Public health is important because it improves the quality of life and reduces human suffering through prevention. Some policies were created to lower the harmful aftermaths associated with various, sometimes illegal,Show MoreRelatedThe Problem Of Needle Exchange Programs860 Words   |  4 Pagestopic. The provocative matter of needle exchange programs will always be as such. The aspiration of this text is to provide comprehension on what is needle exchange programs, Kentucky, educate on public health, funding, and comflict between drug and disease In the United Stated, stated by the Hepatitis C Support program, exchange programs have been documented legitimately and illicitly since the 1980s. 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