This paper will be concerned with the issue of having needle-exchange programs (NEPs) in the United States, for the purpose of encouraging injection drug users (IDUs) to engage in safer practices. Specifically, this paper will address the question of whether or not such programs are a desirable policy for reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS. This topic was chosen because it is evident that something needs to be done to stop the spread of AIDS, a problem that has reached epidemic proportions in nations around the world. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has determined that approximately 25 percent of AIDS cases in the U.S. are found among IDUs (“Needle Exchanges” 112). HIV, the blood-borne virus that causes AIDS, is often spread among this population through the sharing of syringe needles. The virus can then be spread to the general population through sexual transmission. NEPs are regarded as a possible way to deal with this problem. The idea is that IDUs will learn “harm reduction” practices, even if they are unable to quit using intravenous drugs. However, NEPs are controversial because drugs are illegal and many people refuse to be tolerant toward drug addicts in any way. The opponents of NEPs believe that needles are a form of drug paraphernalia and should thus be banned, not openly exchanged.
Despite this point of view, there are several arguments in favor of NEPs. First, there is a great deal of empirical evidence showing that such programs are effective. The introduction of NEPs in Australia, for example, resulted in a dramatic decrease in HIV infections between 1991 and 2000 as well as a substantial decrease in national healthcare costs (Loff & Wodak 1403). An international study commissioned by the Australian Commonweal...
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By providing clean needles to drug addicts, are we causing another issue such as increased drug
Perhaps one of the most pressing concerns is health and the assumption that to a certain degree criminalization is justified by preserving health. Illicit drugs are, in reality, not as hazardous to public health as accustomed views present- particularly in relation to certain recreational activities that are legal. Of the 25,000 illegal drug use-induced fatalities the National Institute on Drug Abuse has brought to light, the majority is more correctly due to drug prohibition than consumption. Also, some 14,300 of the casualties are a result of diseases like AIDS, transferred (generally) because of contaminated drug injection needles. Needle exchange programs for sterile needles are encouraged by the World Health Organization, amongst many other international organizations, as it is considered as possibly the greatest innovation for the health improvement of users. However, the federal government disallows the appropriation of its funds to these programs because the possession and sale of syringes still remain largely illegal. Furthermore, - as I explain later on- between the sellers and producers, there is no real confidence in the contents and hence, dangerousness of a given street drug. Considering the already growing level of consumption, imagine the gains of, for example, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) supervising illicit drugs, parallel to their work on food and
Needle exchange programs are a type of harm reduction initiative used in different parts of the world to combat HIV transmission. These programs provide injection drug users (IDUs) with clean needles and syringes (AVERT, 2015). These programs are run by pharmacies or other drug services, and can be either fixed or mobile sites (CDC, 2010). Besides aiming to reduce the transmission of HIV, these programs also provide advice on safe drug injection, how to minimize harm by drugs and overdose, how to safely handle injection equipment, and provide access to treatment if the person wishes. There are at least 90 countries that have implemented these programs, located in various areas such as the United States, Australia, Asia, Europe, Latin America,
After considering both parts of the issues I am all for methadone treatment and am about 50% on board for the needle exchange. For example, the needle exchange benefits people who get pierced benefit because the piercers must also use sterile needles even if this is not for drug use. But, at the same time needle exchange doesn’t necessarily reduce the spread of HIV and in the long run I don’t think that it’s worth it to showcase needle exchange as the top preventer of the transmittance of HIV. I am all for methadone treatment because of the fact that opiates are extremely hard to get off and at least this way it is proven that the addicts can at least try to assimilate themselves back into normal living if that is their wish.
Many people believe that the only way to receive HIV and AIDS is through sexual intercourse. Although it can be spread through sexual intercourse without proper protection, there is a bigger issue at hand. Not only can HIV and AIDS be transferred through sex, it can be transferred through the sharing of needles. A large number of people forget that drugs are becoming a popular trend in today’s society. The spread of HIV and AIDS has increased because of the sharing of needles between drug users.Not only is it an STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) it is a bloodborne pathogen. This is why needle exchange programs are a must have in communities like Licking County, today. Needle exchange programs are extremely helpful because it decreases the spread of HIV and AIDS.
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and its deriving acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are devastating conditions that currently affect approximately 35.3 million individuals globally (WHO, 2012). In the Canadian context, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS ascended to 71,300 cases in 2011, with 8.9% of the affected individuals being aboriginal peoples (PHAC, 2011). This number not only indicates an overrepresentation of the aboriginal population among the totality of HIV/AIDS cases in the country, but it also illustrates an elevated incidence of 17.3% from the numbers reported in 2008 (PHAC, 2011). The aforementioned statistics were here exposed with the intent of recognizing the incidence and prevalence of HIV/AIDS, as alarming public health issues superimposed on the already vulnerable segment of the Canadian population that is the aboriginal community. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to gradually examine the multiple determinants and factors contributing to such problem as well as some of the possible actions that can ameliorate it.
The purpose of this essay is to indicate how the needle and syringe program in prisons will benefit the Australian government as well as the wider Australian community. As well as the maintenance of NSPs can be maintained while acknowledging concerns of those against it. Needle and syringe programs (NSP) are aimed at intravenous drug users, so as to prevent and limit blood borne diseases like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. These NSP programs help drug addicts by supplying needles and also through referrals and provide education among other services. All these efforts are made to control the spread of blood borne diseases like Hepatitis and AIDS in Australian population with 872 Blood Borne viruses reported 4th quarter 2013(Quarterly Surveillance Report Notifiable Sexually Transmissible Infections and Blood-borne Viruses in Western Australia, Government of Western Australia, Department of health period ending Volume11(1) 31st of December 2013). Blood borne diseases being a major concern all around the globe and prisons being a hub for these diseases its best that NSPs are introduced in prisons.
The study conducted by MacNeil & Pauly (2011) focused on the perspective of the people who use the needle exchange programs in Canada. To receive the data from the injecting drug users, the researchers first recruited most of their participants from four needle exchange sites. There were a total of 33 people who participated (23 men and 10 women) in this study. The average age of the participants was 40.3 years of age, for men, the average was 43, whereas for women it was 34 years old. The participants were either homeless or were on government assistance programs. Out of the 33 participants, six of them reported being HIV positive (18%) and 16 reported being diagnosed wi...
Financial implications: Lower overall costs have been associated with NP (nurse practitioner) care. Studies show that the average cost of a nurse practitioner visit is approximately 25-30 percent lower compared to that of a physician visit. For exam...
Typically NP’s provide health services in rural areas where they are the only source of medical services and this had n...
The Government needs to draw the line somewhere. In Sweden the Government was giving out free heroin, in order to keep the drugs free from being impure. However, Margaret McKay (2001) declares that if we follow in same steps, soon we will be giving out not only free heroin, but also other illegal substances as well. It will then lead to problems with other drugs as well.
...ick, AlexH. Kral, ElizabethA. Erringer, JamesG. Kahn, Collateral damage in the war on drugs: HIV risk behaviors among injection drug users, International Journal of Drug Policy, Volume 10, Issue 1, 1 February 1999, Pages 25-38
In conclusion, the ultimate significance to this type of work is to improve the quality of healthcare in these extremely impoverished nations. This argument is represented in Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains, Monte Leach’s “Ensuring Health Care as a Global Human Right”, and Darshark Sanghavi’s “Is it Cost Effective to Treat the World’s Poor.” The idea that universal healthcare is a human right is argued against in Michael F. Cannon’s “A “Right” to health care?” Cannon claims that it would not work, and fills the holes that the other authors leave in their arguments. All of these articles share the same ultimate goal, and that is to provide every individual with adequate health care, and to not let so many people die from things that could easily have been prevented or treated.
The public health model differs from traditional health practices, as its focus is on the health of the public instead of one patient. It uses a “3 prong approach to prevention and intervention” “known as the agent, host, and the environment.” This is because threats to public health require a susceptible host, an infectious agent, and a supportive environment that allows the spread of infection. By doing this, professionals are able to develop preventions against issues of public health. This would include teaching children to say no to drugs at a young age in order to prevent addiction in the future, as they are susceptible hosts to becoming addicts. Also making drugs illegal to keep the agent from being accessible to people who could become addicts. The approach is useful in all areas of public health, and has been proven to intervene in the likeliness that something will become
Before diving into the ethical issues related to harm reduction, it is necessary to attempt to define the concept. As William Miller (2008) writes, “The term ‘harm reduction’ describes a public health approach intended to reduce risks and adverse consequences of behavioral choices” (p. 41). Examples of this policy include needle exchange programs for heroin addicts, the limiting of alcohol sale in certain stores, the banning of smoking in public places, and supervised injection rooms (Fry, Treloar, & Maher, 2005). While the concept has been largely used as a type of public policy (Kleinig, 2008), it has begun to move into the individual practice arena, with profes...