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Des Moines Register editorial: Iowa should allow needle exchange programs

Globe Gazette - 5/28/2017

The Iowa Department of Public Health in February released its first report on hepatitis C infections in this state. The number of Iowans diagnosed with the liver-damaging virus that can lead to death has increased nearly three-fold, from 754 cases in 2000 to 2,235 cases in 2015. The number of infected Iowans aged 18 to 30 has quadrupled in recent years.

National data mirror this increase. The highest rate of newly reported cases is among young people who inject drugs, namely opioids, according to a report released this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"These new infections are most frequently among young people who transition from taking prescription pills to injecting heroin, which has become cheaper and more easily available," said Dr. John Ward, an author of the new report and director of the division of viral hepatitis at the agency.

An increase in Iowa cases is likely an indication more people are being tested and treated, said Randy Mayer, a bureau chief at IDPH. That is good news - if individuals have health insurance to help pay for treatment, which cures them.

The bad news, however, is that being cured does not provide immunity from contracting hepatitis C again. Someone who underwent treatment and then shares a needle can be reinfected.

That is why preventing the spread of the virus is so important, and Iowa is not doing all it can.

Las Vegas will be the first place in the U.S. to have this kind of service for drug users. Video provided by Newsy Newslook

Unlike several other states, we do not have a needle exchange program, which is an important part of infection prevention. Existing law on drug paraphernalia makes it illegal to carry or possess any equipment used to inject non-prescription drugs. That makes a needle exchange program impossible.

House File 228, introduced in the Iowa Legislature this year, would allow distribution of clean syringes, but the bill did not become law. Next year it should.

Though Republicans have historically opposed needle exchange programs, they are finally seeing the light. Vice President Mike Pence was among those forced to do so as governor of Indiana.

After nearly 200 people in a rural county contracted HIV after sharing needles to inject drugs, public health officials finally convinced the governor to agree to lift a ban on programs that distribute sterile ones. (Of course the outbreak may have been avoided if exchange programs had already been in place, and a subsequent lack of funding has prevented counties from setting up programs.)

In Utah, reported cases of hepatitis C increased by about 37 percent between 2013 and 2014. There was also a small increase in residents newly diagnosed with HIV. In 2016, Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, signed a bill allowing public and private organizations to accept used needles and provide new, sterile ones in return.

Utah's staunchly conservative Legislature offered little resistance after learning about the success of such programs elsewhere. Iowa, which also now has a staunchly conservative Legislature, should follow suit.

This editorial appeared in the My 19 edition of the Des Moines Register.