Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1991. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle (SF) - TUESDAY December 17, 1991
Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer
A draft report of a city plan to prevent the spread of AIDS among drug users proposes a $500,000 program that would allow drug addicts to exchange dirty hypodermic needles for clean ones.
"The San Francisco Department of Public Health has in place the mechanism to start a needle exchange program with very little delay," said the report, a copy of which was obtained by The Chronicle.
According to the report, the city could immediately set up a program that would send teams of needle swappers to sites frequented by drug addicts. Within four months, the city could also have in place a storefront center that could swap needles and provide counseling service referrals. A mobile van also would be used to bring the service to neighborhoods where there is high risk of infection.
The report said the program can only begin when state law is changed to permit it. Mayor-elect Frank Jordan, however, said he wants a city-run needle exchange program even if the law has not been changed. Press secretary Josh Newman said Jordan, now vacationing in Hawaii, has not seen a copy of the report.
Included in the $500,000 price of the Health Department plan is an AIDS testing service for addicts, nursing support and $200,000 to cover the cost of evaluating its effectiveness.
The report also concludes that a system offering drug treatment "on demand" is the most effective strategy for reducing AIDS among drug users, but acknowledges that the $30 million cost of such a program is "not attainable" at this time.
In place of such a service, the report recommends restructuring existing treatment programs to serve more people with available money and to seek $4 million in federal money to expand such programs. The plan proposes a computerized reservation system to handle the backlog for treatment services.
Sharing of contaminated needles is a major source in the transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. There are an estimated 16,000 addicts in San Francisco who inject drugs, primarily cocaine and heroin. About 15 percent, or 2,400, are believed to be infected with HIV. Since the start of the epidemic, drug users have accounted for 1,369 or 12 percent of AIDS cases.
State law currently forbids the distribution of clean needles to drug addicts, but San Francisco has supported a clandestine needle exchange program that has distributed more than 250,000 syringes in the past year. While San Francisco is prohibited by law from paying for needle exchanges, it does provide cotton balls, alcohol wipes, bleach, and needle disposal containers to Prevention Point, a volunteer organization that distributes needles.
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