Needle exchanges, long credited with helping to slow the spread of infectious diseases by public health experts, have made inroads in recent years, even in states traditionally opposed to them.
A ban on federal funding for needle exchanges was lifted earlier this year. States including Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia have made it easier, or in some cases possible for the first time, for programs to operate. Even Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who resisted needle exchanges on moral grounds, repealed a ban on syringe exchanges as governor of Indiana when confronted with an HIV outbreak (albeit too slowly for many experts).
New data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Tuesday further demonstrated the value of needle exchanges, suggesting they had contributed to a major reduction in new HIV infections among people who inject drugs.