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Board considers needle exchange County health officials say program would help drug users, community By PETER WONG Jackson County commissioners will consider Wednesday whether to set up a program for intravenous drug users to obtain clean needles in exchange for used ones. The county's Public Health Advisory Committee recommended the needle exchange program two months ago, suggesting it would increase access to drug treatment for users and decrease exposure to discarded syringes and needles for the community. The commissioners heard a presentation about the program last week, but rather than adopting it then, chose to set a decision for their weekly business meeting at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Courthouse auditorium, 10 S. Oakdale Ave., Medford. "I think the commissioners did not see anything very controversial about it," said Rich Rohde, vice chairman of the Public Health Advisory Committee. "We are hoping it will remain noncontroversial, because it has not generated any concern." Several diseases, such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and hepatitis B and C, are transmitted by contaminated blood through the use of shared needles. Those diseases are costly to treat and can be passed on to others through sexual contact. Though it would oversee such a program if the commissioners approve it, the county Health and Human Services Department would not be involved in any direct exchanges of needles. Federal law bars government agencies that receive grants from direct participation. Instead, the county is likely to turn to an organization such as OnTrack Inc. of Medford, which provides counseling and treatment for alcohol and drug abuse. OnTrack has outreach workers providing bleach for intravenous drug users to sanitize needles, but also offering advice about how users should protect themselves and obtain help to get off drugs. "The outreach workers would be employees of an organization with experience in working with injection drug users and with the ability to develop trusting relationships within that community," says a preliminary county plan. Rohde said advisory committee members may differ about the best ways for the county to reduce intravenous use of such illegal drugs as heroin and methamphetamine. Such users accounted for 15 percent (487) of the 3,157 people who sought treatment in the county during the year that ended June 30. "But for the most part, all of the members of the committee are clear about their support for this program from the standpoint of public health," he said. "There seems to be little public feeling against it at this point." Advisory committee members and public health officials say their biggest concern is to stem the local increases in infections from the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the hepatitis B and C viruses. The first virus causes AIDS, and the hepatitis viruses damage the liver. Intravenous drug users are the second-largest group of people infected with HIV in Jackson County. Of those requesting testing and counseling from county public health, about 30 percent reported current or recent use of injected drugs. Of those users enrolled in the county's methadone program, 87 percent are infected with hepatitis C. During the first six months of this year, the number of positive tests for hepatitis C antibodies rose by 300 percent over the comparable period in 1998. "Needle exchange will give us one more tool to stem the tide of this epidemic," says a report from county health officials. A study prepared for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the cost would be $9,400 for each infection prevented, compared with a $119,000 lifetime cost of treating each infected person. Rohde also said if the program reduces the number of discarded syringes and needles that are reported to law enforcement agencies, it will have served a useful purpose. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA