Don't Turn Back the Clock on HIV Prevention

Unless Congress acts now, the District of Columbia-where one in 20 residents is living with HIV-will be hamstrung in its efforts to fight one of worst HIV/AIDS epidemics in the nation. TAKE ACTION NOW!
 
D.C. government expanded proven-effective syringe-exchange programs just last year, thanks to hard-fought legislation signed by President George W. Bush, to allow the nation's capital to use its own taxpayer dollars for syringe-exchange programs (SEPs).  These lifesaving services will end unless Congress rejects a little-known provision designed to turn back the clock.

The scientific evidence is overwhelming: syringe-exchange services save lives, save money, and do not increase drug use or crime. They keep syringe users, their partners, families, and communities healthy, and effectively decrease transmission of HIV and viral hepatitis.  For many clients, these programs start a path toward recovery and sobriety.

While the U.S. House of Representatives adopted legislation effectively ending the federal-funding ban on SEPs, the Senate has failed to do so.  The House also inserted a poison-pill provision that effectively undercuts progress on HIV prevention by restricting federal funding for any SEP within 1,000 feet of a school, park, pool, or other public establishment, essentially depriving all such programs of federal support. In addition, the House provision would roll back the clock on Washington, D.C.'s anti-HIV efforts by requiring SEPs that are funded by the municipal government to abide by the same draconian 1,000-foot restriction.
 
As the Senate's second-in-command, U.S. Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois has considerable influence to champion science and reject ill-advised policies.  In the past, he has championed the rights of DC to use every option available, including syringe exchange, to combat its severe HIV epidemic.  Now, we need him to do it again and ensure all communities-including those here in Illinois that are hard-hit by injection drug use and HIV-have the ability to access federal funds for life-saving syringe-exchange services without restrictions.

Enough is enough!  It's time for Congress and the White House to get the message on syringe exchange.  Lives are at stake.