[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 179 Introduced in House (IH)]







111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 179

 To permit the use of Federal funds for syringe exchange programs for 
    purposes of reducing the transmission of bloodborne pathogens, 
                   including HIV and viral hepatitis.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 2009

  Mr. Serrano (for himself, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Berman, Mr. Capuano, 
 Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Delahunt, Mr. Farr, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Filner, Mr. 
 Grijalva, Mr. Hare, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Hinchey, Ms. Norton, 
  Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Kucinich, Ms. Lee of California, Mrs. 
Maloney, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. Nadler of New York, 
    Mr. Paul, Mr. Rangel, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. 
    Schakowsky, Mr. Towns, Ms. Waters, Mr. Waxman, and Ms. Woolsey) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To permit the use of Federal funds for syringe exchange programs for 
    purposes of reducing the transmission of bloodborne pathogens, 
                   including HIV and viral hepatitis.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Community AIDS and Hepatitis 
Prevention Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Each year, approximately 12,000 Americans contract HIV/
        AIDS and approximately 19,000 Americans contract the hepatitis 
        C virus directly or indirectly from sharing contaminated 
        syringes.
            (2) A 2005 comprehensive international review of the 
        evidence of the effectiveness of syringe exchange programs in 
        preventing HIV transmission shows that such programs reduce HIV 
        transmission and are cost-effective. Eight additional federally 
        funded research reports concluded that syringe exchange 
        programs, as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention strategy, 
        are an effective public health intervention that reduces HIV 
        transmission without increasing the use of illicit drugs. 
        Research has also shown that syringe exchange programs are 
        important in preventing the transmission of hepatitis B and C. 
        In 2004, Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, Director of the National 
        Institutes of Health, wrote Members of Congress stating, ``A 
        number of studies conducted in the United States have shown 
        that syringe exchange programs do not increase drug use among 
        participants or surrounding community members and are 
        associated with reductions in the incidence of HIV, hepatitis 
        B, and hepatitis C in the drug-using population.''.
            (3) As part of a comprehensive HIV and hepatitis C virus 
        prevention effort, syringe exchange programs often provide HIV 
        and hepatitis C counseling, testing, education, and tools to 
        reduce sexual and drug use-related health risks; links to 
        addiction treatment; overdose prevention; and referrals to 
        other important medical and social services. Research has shown 
        that injection drug users who are referred to addiction 
        treatment from syringe exchange programs are more likely to 
        enter and remain in treatment.
            (4) Research has shown that, by providing safe disposal of 
        used injection equipment, syringe exchange programs 
        significantly reduce the number of improperly discarded 
        syringes in the community, thereby reducing the exposure of 
        police, sanitation workers, children, and others to dangers of 
        blood-borne disease from accidental syringe sticks.
            (5) Syringe exchange programs reduce the prevalence of HIV 
        among injection drug users. A review of data from 81 cities 
        across Europe, Asia, and North America found that, on average, 
        HIV prevalence among injection drug users increased by 5.9 
        percent per year in the 52 cities without syringe exchange 
        programs and decreased by 5.8 percent per year in the 29 cities 
        with syringe exchange programs.
            (6) Syringe exchange programs are supported by American 
        scientific and professional organizations, including the 
        American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of 
        Pediatrics, the American Academy of Physicians Assistants, the 
        American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (formerly the American 
        Academy of Psychiatrists in Alcoholism and Addictions), the 
        American Bar Association, the American Medical Association, the 
        American Nurses Association, the American Pharmacists 
        Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American 
        Psychological Association, the American Public Health 
        Association, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, the 
        Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, the Association of State 
        and Territorial Health Officials, the Infectious Diseases 
        Society of America, the National Association of Boards of 
        Pharmacy, the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS 
        Directors, the United States Conference of Mayors, the World 
        Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the International 
        Red Cross-Red Crescent Society, UNAIDS, and the United Nations 
        Office on Drugs and Crime; and United States government 
        agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the 
        National Institute on Drug Abuse.
            (7) According to the most recent data from the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention, in 2005, 185 syringes exchanges 
        were operating in 36 States, the District of Columbia, and 
        Puerto Rico.   Removing barriers to the use of Federal funding 
        will empower localities to use their funding in the most 
        efficient way to prevent HIV and viral hepatitis.
            (8) Despite the scientific and public health consensus that 
        syringe exchange programs reduce HIV and do not increase 
        substance abuse, a ban on funding syringe exchange has been 
        enacted as part of each Departments of Labor, Health and Human 
        Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 
        since 1998.
            (9) A similar ban on the District of Columbia's use of its 
        own funds for needle exchange programs was lifted in fiscal 
        year 2008.
            (10) Title XXVI of the Public Health Service Act, as added 
        by the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act of 
        1990, is subject to a statutory ban on funding needle exchange 
        programs.

SEC. 3. USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS PERMITTED FOR SYRINGE EXCHANGE PROGRAMS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing shall prohibit 
the use of Federal funds to establish or carry out a program of 
distributing sterile syringes to reduce the transmission of bloodborne 
pathogens, including the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and viral 
hepatitis.
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