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To urge the Congress of the United States to end the | 1 |
longstanding ban on federal funding for syringe | 2 |
exchange programs. | 3 |
WHEREAS, The Harm Reduction Coalition, a national advocacy | 4 |
organization that promotes the health and dignity of individuals | 5 |
and communities impacted by drug use, reports that 8,000 people | 6 |
are newly infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and | 7 |
another 15,000 are newly infected with hepatitis C through sharing | 8 |
syringes and contaminated medical equipment every year; and | 9 |
WHEREAS, One of the most important strategies in reducing the | 10 |
transmission of HIV and other blood-borne infections, according to | 11 |
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is ensuring | 12 |
that injection drug users who cannot or will not stop injecting | 13 |
drugs have access to sterile syringes; and | 14 |
WHEREAS, Syringe exchange programs (SEPs) are community-based | 15 |
initiatives that permit injection drug users to exchange used | 16 |
syringes for clean, sterile ones, with the purpose of reducing the | 17 |
transmission of blood-borne pathogens and promoting the safe | 18 |
disposal of used syringes as infectious waste; and | 19 |
WHEREAS, Government officials and agencies have acknowledged | 20 |
the effectiveness of SEPs for some time. Former Secretary of the | 21 |
United States Department of Health and Human Services Donna | 22 |
Shalala reported to Congress in February 1997 that a review of | 23 |
scientific evidence showed that SEPs can be an effective component | 24 |
of a comprehensive strategy to prevent HIV and other blood-borne | 25 |
diseases in communities that choose to include them. The CDC in | 26 |
2005 acknowledged that SEPs have been shown to be an effective way | 27 |
to link some hard-to-reach injection drug users with important | 28 |
public health services, including substance abuse and mental | 29 |
health treatment and treatment for tuberculosis and sexually | 30 |
transmitted diseases; and | 31 |
WHEREAS, SEPs are highly cost-effective: the lifetime cost of | 32 |
medical care for each new HIV infection is $385,200, while the | 33 |
equivalent amount of money spent on SEPs would prevent at least | 34 |
thirty new HIV infections, according to the Harm Reduction | 35 |
Coalition; and | 36 |
WHEREAS, SEPs have been endorsed by several scientific and | 37 |
medical organizations, including the American Academy of Family | 38 |
Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American | 39 |
Medical Association, the American Academy of Physician Assistants, | 40 |
the American College of Preventive Medicine, the American Nurses | 41 |
Association, and the American Psychological Association; and | 42 |
WHEREAS, Despite the success of SEPs in preventing new HIV | 43 |
and other blood-borne infections, their cost-effectiveness, and | 44 |
their endorsement by health care providers, Congress has banned | 45 |
the use of federal funds for SEPs since 1988, forcing many SEPs to | 46 |
survive on dwindling private donations and state and local funds; | 47 |
and | 48 |
WHEREAS, An appropriations bill for the United States | 49 |
Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies passed | 50 |
by the United States House of Representatives in July 2009--H.R. | 51 |
3293 of the 111th Congress (First Session)--moved to finally lift | 52 |
the ban since the bill did not contain provisions barring SEPs | 53 |
from receiving federal funds; now therefore be it | 54 |
RESOLVED, That we, the members of the 128th General Assembly | 55 |
of the State of Ohio, hereby urge all members of the Congress of | 56 |
the United States to support an end to the longstanding ban on | 57 |
federal funding for SEPs by enacting legislation to that effect, | 58 |
either through H.R. 3293 or another appropriate legislative | 59 |
effort; and be it further | 60 |
RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the House of Representatives | 61 |
transmit duly authenticated copies of this resolution to the | 62 |
President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, the Speaker of | 63 |
the United States House of Representatives, the Secretary of the | 64 |
United States Department of Health and Human Services, and the | 65 |
members of the Ohio Congressional delegation. | 66 |