Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The New York Times- November 27, 2007
The Editorial Board
Congress fanned the flames of a public health disaster when it used its powers over the District of Columbia's budget to bar the city from spending even locally raised tax dollars on clean needle programs.
These programs have been shown across the United States and abroad to slow the spread of AIDS by giving drug addicts access to clean needles.
D.C. has struggled to put in place a program, relying on meager private funding, but it has not been able to keep up with the need.
The harm wrought by Congress's senseless ban is underscored in a hair-raising report just out from the District's health department.
The city's first AIDS update since 2000 found that Washington has the highest AIDS case rate in the nation, with 128.4 cases per 100,000 population in the District. That's compared to just 14.0 cases per 100,000 population in the United States as a whole.
Cases appear to be increasing more rapidly in D.C. than in comparable cities with well-established needle exchange programs.
The AIDS epidemic is partly driven by intravenous drug users, who often contract the disease by sharing dirty needles, then transmit the virus to sexual partners and unborn children. The D.C. study found that more than 20 percent of the city's cases could be traced back to intravenous drug use.
The impact on women - especially black women - has been catastrophic. The number of women with AIDS in the District has jumped by more than 76% over the past six years, according to the report. Black women account for only 58% of the District's female population, but they account for 90% of all new female HIV cases - and 93% of all women living with AIDS.
Children appear to suffer more from AIDS in the Washington, D.C. than anywhere else in the country. Between 2001 and 2006 in the District, 56 children ages 13 or younger were diagnosed with either HIV or AIDS. During that same period, many states reported no new childhood infections.
Critics argue that handing out needles encourages drug use - despite studies here and abroad showing that the programs cut infections without increasing addiction. By barring the District from using even local tax dollars for needle programs, the federal government has hurt women and children and driven up the city's AIDS rate. Congress, which is on the verge of overturning the ban, needs to act right away.
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