You have probably heard through the local media that Catholic Charities AIDS Services’ established Project Safe Point, a syringe exchange program. Project Safe Point provides active substance users access to clean needles, an important method of preventing the spread of HIV and hepatitis. Project Safe Point allows drug users to turn in used syringes, which will be disposed of properly, in exchange for new ones. What has been absent from the majority of the media coverage is the AIDS Council’s involvement in Project Safe Point, and how our staff is working with Catholic Charities staff to provide active substance users free HIV testing and referral to treatment for their addictions.

The point of the program is prevention. Project Safe Point will provide an opportunity for our Peer Associates to provide outreach to recruit clients and promote the program in communities most at-risk. Additionally, we will provide HIV testing and Hepatitis C screening in the Project Safe Point mobile unit, and Transitional Case Management – facilitating recovery readiness and access into substance abuse treatment – in the mobile unit. Our involvement will also include providing individualized risk-reduction counseling, resources, and referrals to participants.

Some of the biggest controversy surrounding Project Safe Point is the fear that this program will contribute to greater drug use because the needles will now be easily available. In March 1997, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Institute of Medicine reported that needle exchange programs contribute to about 80 percent reduction in risk behaviors in injection drug users and 30 percent or greater reduction of HIV transmission. The NIH also went further to say that there is a significant amount of evidence to show that needle exchanges do not encourage the use of illicit drugs. Additionally, in 1999 the Department of Epidemiology conducted a study that found that needle exchange users are three times more likely than non-users to seek detoxification treatment to try to end their drug use.

Project Safe Point will allow us to continue our mission to reduce the risk, fear, and incidence of HIV infection, and we applaud Catholic Charities AIDS Services for providing this needed intervention to the community. The lifetime cost to treat an individual with HIV is more than 1 million dollars. Project Safe Point gives us the opportunity to take cost-effective preventative steps to stop the spread of the disease. For more information on Project Safe Point, please visit http://www.ccaidsalbany.org/client-services/project-safe-point.

Opinions, questions, comments? What do you think of the new Project Safe Point program?

Malissa Pilette-McClenon is the Marketing Coordinator for the AIDS Council of Northeastern New York. With a background in event planning, graphic design, and a degree in English from the State University of New York University at Albany, Malissa brings a passion for design, structure, and form to the Marketing Department. She applauds the work of the AIDS Council and is excited to be part of their mission to reduce the risk, fear, and incidence of HIV infection.