"Few Needle Exchanges in Small Towns, Suburbs Hit by Surge in Heroin Use"
Researchers from Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine; the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, SID and TB Prevention; and the North American Syringe Exchange Network in Tacoma, Washington issued a survey to the 204 needle exchange programs in the U.S. Of the 75 percent of exchanges that responded, 69 percent were located in urban areas, 20 percent in rural areas and 9 percent in suburban areas. "Syringe service programs have been very effective in reducing HIV transmission in the U.S. and throughout the world," said Don Des Jarlais, PhD, a professor at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine and lead author of the study. "The biggest problem is simply that we do not have enough of them in rural and suburban areas." Learn more.