AEGiS-APPJ: Pharmacy Access to Over-the-Counter Syringes in Connecticut: Implications for HIV and Hepatitis Prevention among Injection-Drug Users

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Pharmacy Access to Over-the-Counter Syringes in Connecticut: Implications for HIV and Hepatitis Prevention among Injection-Drug Users

AIDS & Public Policy Journal 17, no. 4 (Winter 2002) 115-126
Thomas J. Stopka, Merrill Singer, Wei Teng, Joseph Horton, and Wilson Compton,III

Injection-drug use is implicated as one of the primary causes of HIV and hepatitis transmission. Sharing of previously used and potentially contaminated syringes by injection-drug users (IDUs) has a cascade effect on communities, and places IDUs, their sexual partners, and related infants at increased risk for acquiring such blood-borne illnesses. Improved access to sterile syringes can decrease transmission risk among these overlapping populations. While exemplary syringe-exchange programs (SEPs) exist internationally and pharmacies have been found to be effective, legal, and accessible sources of sterile syringes for IDUs, moralistic and judgmental viewpoints continue to abound, to the detriment of effective HIV- and hepatitis-prevention efforts.

During the early 1990s, decriminalization of syringe possession and legalization of SEPs, as well as over-the-counter sales of syringes in pharmacies, fostered improved access to sterile syringes among IDUs in Connecticut. Documented reductions in HIV prevalence followed, and effective harm-reduction programs began to gain momentum throughout the state. In more recent years, however, access to sterile syringes has been deterred in some areas of the state.

Recent results from a Connecticut study that examined the willingness of pharmacists to sell over-the-counter (OTC) syringes indicate that urban pharmacists are willing to sell OTC syringes at significantly lower rates than suburban pharmacists are (56 percent versus 78 percent, respectively; p < .05). Further, ethnic bias may influence some pharmacists' willingness to sell OTC syringes in parts of Connecticut. Addressing the barriers to effective and widespread OTC syringe sales should be a high priority in HIV- and hepatitis-prevention efforts.
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