Business Wire - June 5, 2002
To accompany the campaign, the Coalition for Responsible Syringe Policy will unveil commercials in English and Spanish depicting the reality of HIV and hepatitis C's impact on hard-working families. These ads will air on cable stations throughout California with the coalition seeking to expand the campaign to radio and print to help educate citizens on how to fight the spread of these diseases.
"By allowing pharmacists to provide clean syringes, we will play a crucial role in stopping the spread of HIV and hepatitis C within our communities," said Carlo Michelotti, RPh, MPH and chief executive officer of the California Pharmacists Association (CPhA). "This is a matter of public health safety, that is why CPhA and more than 30 other health care advocates including the California Medical Association and the California Nurses Association all support pharmacy syringe sales without a prescription as an important strategy of disease control."
In California alone, it has been conservatively estimated that 50% of the 600,000 hepatitis C cases and 19% of the more than 124,000 HIV cases are all related to needle sharing.
The American Journal of Public Health published a study last year that determined, statistically, that HIV among injection drug users was twice as high in cities that prohibited the sale of syringes without a prescription (13.8% vs. 6.7%) and showed virtually no statistical difference in the prevalence of injection drug use. A recent Center for Disease Control report also showed that persons who have chronic liver disease, often caused by hepatitis B and C are at an increased risk of being infected with hepatitis A.
Most states never required a prescription for syringe purchase but most of those that did repealed those laws in order to check the spread of HIV/AIDS and more recently hepatitis C. California is one of the last six states in the nation that still requires a prescription in order to purchase a syringe at the pharmacy.
"Clean needles save lives by reducing the spread of HIV and other blood-borne diseases," said Senator John Vasconcellos. "It is critical that California follows 44 other states in increasing efforts that make sterile needles available, in addition to expanding access to drug treatment and drug use-prevention education."
Other supporters of SB 1785 include Kaiser Permanente, AIDS Project Los Angeles, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, California HIV Advocacy Coalition, Health Officers Association of California, Alameda County Public Health Department (ACPHD), American Liver Foundation's California chapters, Board of Supervisors of Marin County, California Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors, California Family Health Council, California Retailers Association, Congress of California Seniors, Sonoma County Hepatitis C Task Force and the County Health Executives Association of California among others.
The California Pharmacists Association is the largest state pharmacy association in the nation and the professional society representing all pharmacists in California. The mission of the association is to act as the leader in advocating the role of the pharmacist as an essential provider of health care and to support pharmacists in providing optimal pharmaceutical care. For more information about CPhA visit www.cpha.com.
Media Visuals: Copies of the commercial will be available from the Center for Policy Reform on June 5th at 8:00 AM. A copy can be sent overnight on June 4th by calling 916/444-3751
CONTACT: California Pharmacists Association - Bill Bradley, 916/444-7811 ext. 317
WHO: Carlo Michelotti, CEO, California Pharmacists Association (CPhA) Senator John Vasconcellos, Neil Flynn, MD, MPH, Other Health Care Advocates
WHAT: SB 1785 -- The Pharmacy Syringe Sale and Disease Prevention Act
WHEN: Wednesday, June 5, 2002, 10:00 AM
WHERE: State Capitol, Room 1190 Sacramento, CA
SOURCE: California Pharmacists Association
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