Another Indiana county is awaiting approval from the State health commissioner to establish a syringe exchange in order to reduce the spread of HIV and hepatitis C through intravenous drug use.
The Allen County Commissioners voted 2-1 last week to open an exchange program at the recommendation of the Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health.
While Allen County waits on the State’s final approval for its syringe exchange program, Wabash County is among nearly 20 Indiana counties where community members are working to establish their own exchange program.
The Indiana legislature first enacted its syringe exchange program in 2015 following the unprecedented number of HIV positive cases in rural Scott County. Those exchanges, however, are only approved on a county-by-county basis and require the approval of County commissioners and the State health commissioner before they can open.
In a syringe exchange program, drug users may exchange used syringes for new ones at clinics operated by public health officials. These programs are considered by some as harm reduction strategies, whereby intravenous drug users can reduce the risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis C by not having to share used needles with other users.
Critics, however, say needle exchanges encourage illegal behavior, among other things.
Law enforcement members are not allowed to arrest or detain individuals found in possession of syringes in counties where an exchange has been approved, but may do so in counties without an exchange program.
It is unclear how serious local advocates are in establishing a needle exchange in Wabash County, as few have come forward to talk about the idea publicly.
The County Health Department, one of the entities charged with determining whether a need for such a program exists, did not comment for this article.
County Health Board President Keith Walters did, however, say that a proposal to establish a syringe exchange in Wabash County has not been brought before the board this year and that he is unaware of any conversations regarding the matter.
Other County Health Department members did not return requests for comment prior to deadline Saturday.
According to State law, a County health department must prove that an HIV or hepatitis C outbreak related to intravenous drug use poses a serious risk to the county before a proposal can be brought before the County commissioners.
The number of Wabash County residents who tested positive for hepatitis C spiked in 2014 and dropped slightly in 2015, according to Indiana State Department of Health data, while the number of new HIV positive cases was under five for both years.
More-recent data was not readily available.
Dr. Carrie Lawrence with Project Cultivate, an Indiana University Rural Center for AIDS and STD Prevention program, said that some communities have struggled to determine if a syringe exchange program is the best way for them to address intravenous drug use.
“In a low-resource community…knowing that the local health department has to be the conduit, it almost can stop the process in that we don’t have the time or resources to do it,” Lawrence said. “…The local health department has to be willing to see what the value is because they are the driver of this process.”
Lawrence defended needle exchange programs by saying they prevent another HIV epidemic from occurring and that they can serve as a “bandage” until more-comprehensive plans are developed to address the state’s growing heroin use and prescription drug abuse trend.
“It’s making sure we can at least keep things from getting worse,” she said.