www.amfar.org ISSUE BRIEF

HIV/AIDS remains one of the country’s most serious health challenges. According to an overwhelming body of evidence, needle and syringe exchange programs not only reduce the spread of HIV, but also save money, encourage the safe disposal of syringes, minimize the risk of needlestick injuries to law enforcement officials, and help link chemically dependent individuals to vital drug treatment services. In difficult budgetary times, investments in syringe exchange are a wise use of tax dollars. Injection drug-related HIV and hepatitis C infections remain serious health crises in the United States Each year, 50,000 Americans are newly infected with HIV.1 Injection drug use remains a driving force in the national epidemic, accounting for 14 percent of new HIV infections among women and 7-11 percent of new HIV infections among men in the United States in 2010.2 Reaching the federal goal of an “AIDS-Free Generation”3 requires effective, sustained efforts to prevent new infections among injection drug users (IDUs). Approximately 3.2 million Americans are living with hepatitis C (HCV), and deaths related to HCV have increased substantially over the last decade.4 The evidence is clear: Syringe services programs prevent HIV transmission Sharing contaminated injecting equipment is one of the most efficient means of HIV transmission.5 Scores of studies have conclusively demonstrated that SSPs help prevent infection by reducing the re-use and circulation of injecting equipment without increasing drug use or resulting in other negative