According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2016a), approximately 3.5 million people in the United States are infected with Hepatitis C and more specifically, one third of all injection drug users ages 18-30 are currently infected. This outstanding number is in addition to the 1.2 million of the population who are currently infected with HIV (CDC, 2015a). Thusly, establishing its relevance to adults and their health. With injection drug use being at the top of the list for modes of transmission, it has quickly become evident why there has been a push to implement needle exchange programs (NEPs) throughout the country. However, this push does not come without much debate. It is at this point which many people question the
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Based on evaluation of needle exchange programs since their launch in the 1990’s to the early 2000’s, the World Health Organization (WHO, 2005), found that “providing sterile needles and syringes with considerable encouragement to only inject with such equipment reduces both risk behaviour and HIV infection” (p. 24). Additionally, a study conducted in Australia, which examined the incidence of HCV between PWID that attended a needle exchange program culminated that the reduction in HCV among PWID that attended these programs was correlated with an increase in harm reduction initiatives such as needle exchange programs (Iversen, Wand, Topp, Kaldor, & Maher, 2013). Furthermore, a systemic review solidified these results by comparing the effectiveness of multiple needle exchange programs and concluded that “significant public health benefits can be obtained even when at least 50% of the injecting population in a community receive at least 10 or more sterile syringes per year” (Abdul-Quader et al., 2013, p. 2889). Through research findings, it can be seen how even minimal intervention could be beneficial to aiding in the prevention of HIV and HCV among adult drug users and their
Based on evaluation of needle exchange programs since their launch in the 1990’s to the early 2000’s, the World Health Organization (WHO, 2005), found that “providing sterile needles and syringes with considerable encouragement to only inject with such equipment reduces both risk behaviour and HIV infection” (p. 24). Additionally, a study conducted in Australia, which examined the incidence of HCV between PWID that attended a needle exchange program culminated that the reduction in HCV among PWID that attended these programs was correlated with an increase in harm reduction initiatives such as needle exchange programs (Iversen, Wand, Topp, Kaldor, & Maher, 2013). Furthermore, a systemic review solidified these results by comparing the effectiveness of multiple needle exchange programs and concluded that “significant public health benefits can be obtained even when at least 50% of the injecting population in a community receive at least 10 or more sterile syringes per year” (Abdul-Quader et al., 2013, p. 2889). Through research findings, it can be seen how even minimal intervention could be beneficial to aiding in the prevention of HIV and HCV among adult drug users and their