NEW YORK — Seeking bold action to stem the HIV/AIDS epidemic among black Americans, the NAACP, the National Urban League and other groups Thursday urged Congress to repeal a 20-year-old ban on federal funding for needle-exchange programs.
More than 200 such programs have been established locally and regionally across the country, with the aim of slowing the rate of HIV infection among drug addicts who might otherwise use contaminated needles.
Advocacy groups say the ban on federal funding leaves many of these programs in a shaky financial position while deterring many local and state officials from supporting needle exchange.
“We are talking about saving lives,” said Allan Clear, executive director of the Harm Reduction Coalition, which coordinated the lift-the-ban campaign to coincide with National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
Blacks are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS — though comprising only 13 percent of the U.S. population, they accounted for roughly half of new HIV cases in 2005, according to federal figures. Injection drug use is now blamed for causing roughly a third of new HIV cases in the United States — and it accounts for a higher proportion of cases among blacks than among whites.
Advocates of needle exchange say the programs reduce disease transmission and bring more drug addicts into supportive facilities where they can obtain social services and be offered treatment.
“They do not encourage drug use,” said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., one of the leading congressional opponents of the ban. “These programs are the way you really reach these drug users and help them end their addiction.”
Opposition to the programs is entrenched, with skeptics questioning the health benefits of needle exchange and its ability to help addicts break their habit.
