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DC Needle Exchanges Curb Spread of HIV
Predictive modeling determined that the needle exchange in Washington, DC, prevented 120 new cases of HIV in 2 years, according to researchers.
Needle exchanges can prevent new cases of HIV, according to a new study published in AIDS and Behavior. After Washington, DC, lifted the ban on spending city money on needle exchanges, the researchers used a modeling technique to predict how many HIV infections would have occurred if the ban remained. They determined that the needle exchange prevented 120 new cases in 2 years.
Intravenous drug users can trade dirty syringes for clean ones at needle exchanges, which have been controversial programs to implement and spend city money on. While proponents claim needle exchanges curb the spread of HIV, opponents argue that the existence of these programs enable addicts to keep using.
In 1988, Congress banned the use of federal funds for needle exchanges. However, the District of Columbia was unable to use its own money until 2007, because Congress oversees its budget. The DC ban was lifted in late 2007 and the needle exchange program was implemented.
Read more at USA Today: http://usat.ly/1IN4e0B
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Drs Raymond Thertulien, Joseph Mikhael on Racial Disparities in Multiple Myeloma Care Access
December 28th 2023In the wake of the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Raymond Thertulien, MD, PhD, of Novant Health, and Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, discussed health equity research highlights from the meeting and drivers of racial disparities in multiple myeloma outcomes.
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Government agencies have created an online portal for the public to report potential anticompetitive practices in health care; there are changes coming to the “boxed warning” section for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies (CAR T) to highlight T-cell blood cancer risk; questions about the safety of obesity medications during pregnancy have arisen in women on them who previously struggled with fertility issues.
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