Baltimore Sun Examines City's Efforts to Promote Needle-Exchange Program Among Young IDUs

The Baltimore Sun on Wednesday examined the city's efforts to promote its needle-exchange program among young injection drug users to curb the spread of HIV. Overall, the program has been called a "public health success," the Sun reports. Since it began 11 years ago, the number of new HIV cases attributed to injection drug use has dropped by one-fifth to about 40% of all new cases. However, most IDUs in their teens and early 20s are not participating in the program and purchase needles on the street, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. To promote the program among young IDUs, the city is applying for a $25,000 grant from the Tides Foundation to improve outreach efforts, according to Monique Glover Rucker, the Baltimore City Health Department's senior adviser on HIV/AIDS and harm reduction programs (MacGillis, Baltimore Sun, 9/14).

Back to other news for September 15, 2005