Needle Exchange: Experts Deplore Shalala Remarks

On January 17, 32 leading experts on needle exchange released a strongly worded letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Donna Shalala, concerning her statements to THE NEW YORK TIMES that there is "controversy over research," and to CNN that "different experts disagree" on needle exchange. The experts said her statements "grossly mischaracterize the enormous body of research on needle exchange programs," and cited the "astonishing unanimity among researchers who have looked at this issue in detail."

The letter cited six Federally-funded reviews of needle exchange. All found that these programs reduce HIV transmission, and do not increase drug use. Four recommended ending the Federal ban on funding needle exchange, and also recommended that states consider changing laws that limit access to clean syringes. (The other two did not have a mandate to make any policy recommendations, but their data supported the same conclusions.)

For more information, contact Peter Lurie, M.D., M.P.H., at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California, San Francisco.