Local health officials do not think a needle exchange program is necessary in Henry County now. The need seems greater in Wayne County, however.
The Indiana State Department of Health authorized needle exchange programs in the summer of 2015 in response to a dramatic increase in positive HIV cases among intravenous drug users in southern Indiana. According to the ISDH, needle exchange programs have proven to reduce transmission of HIV, hepatitis B and C, and other blood-borne pathogens among people who inject.
One way that county health departments can predict how many active HIV cases are in a community is by monitoring local hepatitis C cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that “about one quarter of HIV-infected persons in the United States are also infected with hepatitis C virus.”
The primary goals of the programs are to provide a clean syringe for each injection and to provide an entry point for substance abuse treatment and care.
The Henry County Board of Health decided in October 2015 that it would be premature to move forward with a local needle exchange program without treatment options already in place.
The board instructed the health department to continue hepatitis C testing and monitoring. The board will call an emergency meeting if hepatitis Cnumbers reach epidemic status, if the health department receives a positive HIV test result or if local law enforcement identify high-risk drugs in the area.
Henry County Health Department Director of Nursing Deb Miller has not seen an increase in local cases that would indicate a public health emergency. The health department routinely tests Henry County jail inmates for hepatitis C.
“It just seems that the numbers are staying the same,” Miller said.
The health department also provides tests for anyone who stops by the office at 1201 Race St., Suite 208. Miller said the number of walk-ins has decreased over the past year.
Just down the road, the Wayne County public health officer declared a public health emergency in October because of the number of hepatitis C and HIV cases. According to the ISDH 2015 Indiana Annual Report, Henry County had 44 cases of hepatitis C in 2014, which included 13 local inmates in the Indiana Department of Correction. Wayne County had 122 cases during that same time.
Wayne County ranks fourth in the state in hepatitis C cases. About two people die of heroin overdose in Wayne County every month, said Wayne County Commissioner Mary Anne Butters said.
An effort to slow the spread of the hepatitis C and HIV viruses among narcotic drug users in Wayne County could get a big boost today. The Wayne County Commissioners hope to have all the paperwork in place to vote on a needle exchange program and seek ISDH approval.
Butters said drugs flow into the county from Dayton, Ohio.
The Wayne County Board of Commissioners has spent the last six months working with Reid Health and Meridian Health Services to develop a plan for a needle exchange program, Butters said.
“While none of us wish it were necessary, all three of us commissioners want to move forward with this because it is a highly communicable health problem,” Butters said. “ We’re just trying to save lives, is all.”
Butters hopes a local needle exchange program will help get heroin addicts off the drug. A main component of the needle exchange would be to educate drug users about treatment programs in the area. Butters said at least four Wayne County treatment facilities use Vivitrol, which eliminates the craving and prohibits any high from opiates. Starting with released jail inmates and heroin addicts around the county. Reid Health uses a medical device called The BRIDGE to help heroin users go through withdrawal quicker and with less physical pain.
“Addicts are unaware of Vivitrol and The BRIDGE,” Butters said. “By coming to a non-threatening location ... they will learn about how different it is today to get clean and stay clean.”
One side effect of needle exchange programs is that the public is less likely to find a used syringes in parking lots and alleys. In Scott County, drug users are actively helping clean neighborhoods by hunting for used needles that they turn in for clean ones.