University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Irvine, CA, USA.
University of California, Irvine Department of Criminology, Law and Society, Irvine, CA, USA.
Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2021 Mar 24;16(1):27. doi: 10.1186/s13011-021-00362-1.
For over 30 years, syringe services programs (SSPs) have served as an efficacious intervention for the prevention of HIV and Hepatitis C transmission among persons who use drugs. Despite a strong body of evidence for the effectiveness of SSPs as a preventative public health measure, numerous local and state governments in the United States continue to resist the establishment of new SSPs and aggressively pursue the closure of those already in operation.
In Orange County, California, local officials have repeatedly mobilized in opposition of the establishment of syringe access - thereby hindering access to healthcare for thousands of predominantly unhoused individuals. The county was previously served by the Orange County Needle Exchange Program from 2016 until 2018 when a civil suit brought by the Orange County Board of Supervisors resulted in the closure of the program. For more than 2 years, persons who inject drugs in Orange County lacked reliable access to clean syringes, placing them at increased risk for contracting HIV and Hepatitis C. Here, we comment on the ongoing effort to restore syringe access in Orange County. This collaborative physician-directed endeavor has brought together students and community volunteers to provide vital harm reduction services to a remarkably underserved population. Since the reestablishment of syringe access in Orange County by the Harm Reduction Institute, new legal barriers have arisen including the passage of new municipal legislation banning the operation of syringe exchanges. We are well-equipped to overcome these obstacles. This work serves as an affirmation of assertions made by previous authors regarding the unique qualifications of medical & graduate students as effective harm reductionists.
Harm reduction services are vital to the health and well-being of people who use drugs. The provision of these services should not be impeded by legislative interference by municipal, county, or state governments.
30 多年来，注射器服务项目（SSP）一直是预防艾滋病毒和丙型肝炎在吸毒者中传播的有效干预措施。尽管有大量证据表明 SSP 作为一种预防性公共卫生措施是有效的，但美国许多地方和州政府仍继续抵制建立新的 SSP，并积极寻求关闭现有的 SSP。
在加利福尼亚州奥兰治县，当地官员多次动员反对建立注射器获取途径——从而阻碍了数千名主要无家可归者获得医疗保健。该县之前由奥兰治县针头交换计划提供服务，直到 2018 年，由于奥兰治县监事会提起的民事诉讼，该计划关闭。在奥兰治县，注射毒品者已经有两年多时间无法可靠地获得清洁注射器，使他们感染艾滋病毒和丙型肝炎的风险增加。在这里，我们评论了在奥兰治县恢复注射器获取的持续努力。这项由医生指导的合作努力汇集了学生和社区志愿者，为一个明显服务不足的人群提供重要的减少伤害服务。自奥兰治县减少伤害协会重新建立注射器获取以来，新的法律障碍已经出现，包括通过新的禁止运营注射器交换的市立法。我们有能力克服这些障碍。这项工作证实了之前的作者关于医学和研究生作为有效减少伤害者的独特资格的断言。
减少伤害服务对吸毒者的健康和福祉至关重要。这些服务的提供不应受到地方、县或州政府立法干扰的阻碍。
