Chattanooga CARES unveils an innovative new program to help battle the harm caused by the opioid epidemic
Back in January, columnist Alex Teach wrote here in The Pulse about an innovative approach to treating the opiod injection epidemic in Philadelphia, with the implementation of "safe injection sites".
“For those blissfully unaware, this is a mechanism in which people bring their own drugs to shoot up under the watch of medical staffing a facility that provides clean needles and other equipment,” he wrote. “Advocates say the goal is to provide a bridge to treatment.”
Philadelphia’s District Attorney Larry Krasner explained that the supervised injection sites were a form of harm reduction.
“The only way to get people to turn their lives around,” he said, “is to keep them alive long enough so they can do that. And we’re going to do that.”
And while many feel that Philly may have gone a step too far, many others understand the importance of working with intravenous drug users instead of simply vilifying them.
Which is why the Syringe Trade and Education Program of TN (STEP TN) is being initiated starting this week. Operated by Chattanooga CARES, it is taking a bold approach in tackling the underlying community health concerns created by the opioid epidemic.
The purpose behind Chattanooga CARES launching STEP TN is to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, and other blood borne diseases, reduce needle stick injuries to law enforcement officers and other emergency personnel; and encourage individuals who inject drugs to enroll in evidence-based treatment.
Cory A. Howard, the Director of Development & Communications at Chattanooga CARES, explains the thinking behind this innovative new program. “Since 2011, opioid injection drug use in Tennessee has increased 38 percent,” he explains. “Tennessee’s drug-related deaths have increased 40 percent. There has been a 364 percent increase in the number of cases of acute hepatitis C infection from 2006 to 2012 among persons under thirty, and Hepatitis C infections among pregnant women nearly doubled from 2009-2014.”
A common myth is that syringe exchange programs encourage, enable or increase drug use, as well as crime.
Research from the World Health Organization and American Medical Association, shows this is not true. In fact, many studies show that syringe exchange programs decrease drug use by connecting people to treatment.
“It is estimated that syringe exchange program participants are five times more likely to enter drug treatment than non-participants,” notes Howard.
Syringe service programs are proven to decrease the number of used syringes discarded in public places by almost 50 percent. Also, one-time use of syringes is the most effective way to limit the transmission of HIV among injection drug users (IDUs) by reducing HIV infection rates by 80 percent.
“In 2015, there were 3,600 HIV diagnoses among IDUs. About 30 percent IDUs under the age of 30 have Hepatitis C, while close to 90 percent of older IDUs have Hepatitis C,” Howard points out. “SSPs reduce new HIV and viral hepatitis infections by decreasing the sharing of syringes and other injection equipment.”
Services provided by STEP TN include clean syringes, wound care supplies, naloxone, and provide education/referrals for drug treatment, overdose prevention, as well as, HIV and Hepatitis C testing and treatment. For more information, go to STEPTN.org