Syringe Exchange National Call-in Day -- April 2, 2009

Please make your calls RIGHT NOW, then ask anyone around you to make their calls as well.

Urge Your Representative to Support the Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention Act of 2009 and Urge President Obama to Remove the Ban on Federal Funding from his Fiscal Year 2010 budget:

Why: Each year, approximately 8,000 Americans contract HIV/AIDS and approximately 12,000 Americans contract the hepatitis C virus directly or indirectly from sharing contaminated syringes.

Making clean, sterile syringes available is a simple, cost-effective method of saving lives and providing care to hard to reach populations.

But since 1988, there has been a Congressional ban on the use of federal funds for Syringe Exchange Programs nationwide. Last year, Congress lifted the ban against Washington DC using its local tax dollars to support syringe exchange in the city itself.

The Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention (CAHP) Act of 2009 would allow federal dollars to fund Syringe Exchange Programs. Iy will save thousands of lives and help reduce high-risk behavior. We must pass the Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention Act of 2009 and end the ban on federal funding for syringe exchange.

Take Action: We need thousands of calls to make sure that Congress and the White House are paying attention to this issue. Your 2 calls can make the difference!

Call #1:

With just your zip code, you can get your Representative's phone number and whether he or she has already sponsored the CAHP Act. If they have, please thank your representative. If not, ask your Representative to co-sponsor the Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention (CAHP) Act of 2009 (H.R. 179)

Please click here to call Your Representative RIGHT NOW. This website will let you know if your Representative has become a co-sponsor, and give you talking points for your call.

Call #2:

Urge the Obama Administration to keep his campaign promise and support lifting the federal ban on funding for syringe exchange programs by removing the ban from the President's Fiscal Year 2010 budget

After you have called your Representative, please call the White House. The phone number is 202-456-1111. Please tell them to:

1. Support syringe exchange programs because they are a cost effective, successful means for reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, and other blood-borne infectious diseases. Syringe exchange has been shown not to increase the rate of drug use.
2. Please uphold President Obama's campaign promise to lift the syringe exchange ban by removing any language that prohibits spending federal funds on syringe exchange programs through the President's Fiscal Year 2010 Budget.