5461190_Healthcare Policy
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Pensacola Christian College *
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304
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Medicine
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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docx
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4
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Healthcare Policy
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Healthcare Policy
Needle Exchange Programs work under numerous legislative restrictions. The programs
aim to reduce the transmission of infectious diseases like HCV and HIV, especially among
People Who Inject Drugs. However, a difference of opinion shows that some experts and
communities believe the needle exchange program has unintended consequences of increasing
the PWID population. Such people do not support its implementation. Therefore, the legal
environment has enforced policies that limit PWID's access to them. The specific legislative
policy with a significant negative impact on the program is the restrictions of the federal law on
funding of the programs.
In the initial stages of the program, federal funding was strictly prohibited. However, in
2016 there was a partial lift on the ban, although the restrictions persist. In the new legislative
policy, Needle Exchange Programs must provide evidence to the CDC and be given a
Determination of Need before they can use the funds allocated (
Broz et al. 2021
). In addition,
most states prohibit using such funding to purchase needles.
NEP working under restrictive funding is counterproductive to the national public health
goal of reducing HIV infection in the US, which is prevalent among PWID. A survey on the
effectiveness of NEPs finds that participants with a high risk of sharing needles reduced such
injection risk behaviors over time with the help of the program (
Kåberg et al. 2020
). Therefore,
funding restrictions only limit their ability to help stop infectious disease transmission in
vulnerable populations. The Bible teaches the need to treat other human beings with compassion
since everyone is made in the image of God. Vulnerable populations are suffering and need the
federal government to view them as having a disease that will justify their complete support of
3
programs trying to help them overcome the illness. Notably, a lack of funding limits the
provision of quality care to communities and hinders public safety.
The policy limits the effectiveness of NEPs in most states, increasing the burden of HIV
infections on the healthcare system. For example, the average annual cost of managing a NEP is
$160,000 compared to the yearly cost of treating one HIV patient of about %120,000 (
American
Civil Liberties Union, 2023). In addition, the opioid outbreak in the US increased the population
of PWID with a risk of sharing needles which will stretch the public health resources even
further due to the increased risks. Therefore, investing more in preventative measures than
mitigative ones makes more sense.
There is a need to revise the restrictions on funding NEPs. Local governments should
create separate dedicated funding for the programs, limiting the need for a DON to use the funds
and increasing the accessibility of the programs to the community (
Broz et al. 2021
). In addition,
the funding of such programs should be timely to help healthcare professionals come up with
innovative ideas in the fight against infectious diseases spread. Lastly, there is a need to repeal
the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 and completely remove federal funding restrictions
that prevent the programs from purchasing syringes with the funds as it will aid in delivering
quality care.
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References
American Civil Liberties Union. (2023).
Needle exchange programs promote public
safety
.
https://www.aclu.org/fact-sheet/needle-exchange-programs-promote-public-safety
Broz, D., Carnes, N., Chapin-Bardales, J., Des Jarlais, D. C., Handanagic, S., Jones, C. M., ... &
Asher, A. K. (2021). Syringe services programs’ role in ending the HIV epidemic in the
US: why we cannot do it without them.
American journal of preventive medicine
,
61
(5),
S118-S129.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2021.05.044
Kåberg, M., Karlsson, N., Discacciati, A., Widgren, K., Weiland, O., Ekström, A. M., &
Hammarberg, A. (2020). Significant decrease in injection risk behaviours among
participants in a needle exchange programme.
Infectious Diseases
,
52
(5), 336-346.
https://doi.org/10.1080/23744235.2020.1727002