Rising Cases of HIV in Indiana Forces Gov. Pence to Extend Needle Exchange Program

By Catherine Isabedra, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Over the last few weeks, an Indiana county is making headlines as they report a number of confirmed HIV cases. In just a short span of two weeks, there are now 120 confirmed HIV cases according to the Indiana State Department of Health.

The epidemic that started last month is expected to rise even more as more people subject themselves for testing. The unprecedented rise in number forced Gov. Mike Pence to extend his previously approved 30-day needle exchange program. In a statement, the governor said, "While we've made progress in identifying and treating those affected by this heartbreaking epidemic, the public health emergency continues and so must our efforts to fight it."

The needle-exchange program is a short-term plan of addressing the outbreak by giving drug users sterile needles. Note: Indiana law does not permit needle exchanges but Gov. Pence is pushing the policy under a gubernatorial executive order.

In interview with The Huffington Post, spokeswoman for Indiana's Joint Information Center, says: "The goal of the program is a clean needle for each person for each injection."

This is indeed a short-term program as the executive order approved by Gov. Pence did not include a funding for the Scott County program. Kent believes that in order to solve the problem, the county should also have other programs in place including testing, educating, addiction counseling, and mental health evaluation services. The needle-exchange program is just half of the response effort.

The outbreak is said to be secondary to the rampant intravenous use of Opana painkiller. The Scott County reports about five cases of HIV annually. Since the approval of the temporary exchange, about 5,322 clean syringes have been given to 86 participants and close to 1,400 used syringes were returned, according to New York Times.

In the US, over 1.2 million are living with HIV according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.