7/29/2019 Lift Federal Ban on Syringe Exchange Funding

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August 2009

Housing Works calls on the Obama Administration to Lift the

Federal Ban on Syringe Exchange Funding

Congress has begun taking the steps necessary to lift this ban and Housing Works is calling onthe Administration speak forcefully both publicly and in behind the scenes negotiations atconference for language that fully lifts the ban without placing restrictions that should be

managed at the state and territorial level.

Since 1989, Congress has prevented the use of federal funds for syringe exchange programs(SEPs), allowing use of the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bill and otherlegal provisions as a means for carrying out the prohibition. Numerous studies have proven that

SEPs are cost-effective, save lives, do not promote drug use, and provide a conduit to primaryhealth care for hard to reach populations. Annually, nearly 8,000 Americans contract HIV/AIDS

and approximately 12,000 Americans contract the hepatitis C virus directly or indirectly fromsharing contaminated syringes. According to the Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR) andthe Harm Reduction Coalition, more than 200 syringes exchanges are operating in 36 States, theDistrict of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. For all of these reasons, Housing Works joins theHIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis communities asking that the ban be lifted in all U.S. laws and

policies. There are two primary means of achieving that goal:

Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill

Each year, a ban on federal funding for the use of syringe exchange programs is included in the

Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bill. In 2007, Congress lifted the ban on localfunding of SEPs in Washington, DC (H.R. 2764). Housing Works is calling on Congress toremove the ban from the appropriations bill allowing federal HIV/AIDS and hepatitis preventionfunding allocated to the Centers for Disease Control to be used for syringe exchange.

Removal of the federal ban would result in significant reductions of new HIV and hepatitis Cinfections and substantial savings in HIV and hepatitis treatment costs in Medicaid, Medicare,and discretionary systems like the Ryan White Care Act. No community would be forced to

create a syringe exchange program.

The Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention (CAHP) Act

The CAHP Act (H.R. 179) was introduced by Congressman Jose Serrano (D-NY) on January 6,2009. The CAHP Act states that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, all barriers

prohibiting the use of federal funding for syringe exchange programs shall be removed.

Housing Works is calling on Congress to pass of the CAHP Act which will supersede the

language of the AIDS Amendments to the Health Omnibus Extension Act of 1988 and the RyanWhite CARE Act of 1990 and empower local communities to decide for themselves whetherutilizing SEPs is best suited for their local epidemics.

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