Clark County to seek needle-exchange program

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — Local officials unanimously approved a proposed needle-exchange program in a Southern Indiana county near the center of an HIV outbreak among intravenous drug users.

The Clark County commissioners voted in favor of the program on Thursday night. The proposal now goes to the Indiana State Department of Health for final approval.

During the commissioners meeting, a public hearing was held to field residents’ opinions on the matter. Most people who spoke at the hearing were in favor implementing a needle-exchange program, WDRB-TV reported.

Carolyn King was among the residents who vocally supported the program. She is familiar with the area’s intravenous drug use problem both personally and professionally.

In March, King’s granddaughter died of a heroin overdose. King also works directly with the HIV crisis in Scott County, where she said the needle-exchange program has seen success.

“It’s helped reduce the number of new infections which is the main purpose of it, but it’s also helped people get into treatment,” King said.

In Clark County, the number of annual drug overdose deaths is on the rise, increasing from 32 in 2013 to 58 last year, according to Clark County health officer Dr. Kevin Burke. The county is on track to see between 60 and 70 drug overdose deaths this year, he said.

“We had 25 percent more HIV compared to the state average and 30 percent more hepatitis,” Burke said.

State health officials have approved needle-exchange programs for adjacent Scott County and Central Indiana’s Madison County under a state law spurred by an HIV outbreak that’s become the largest in state history. The center of the epidemic is in Scott County, where 175 people have tested positive for HIV.

A needle-exchange program in Clark County, if approved, would make the community safer and save money in the long run, Burke said.