Dogwood
Center
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 1999
CONTACT: Dawn
Day, Ph. D. 609-924-4797
The
injection-related AIDS epidemic:
New Jersey ranks
5th
Three NJ Metro Areas in Top 14
Prevention Neglected
Princeton,
NJ: According to a new study, drug-injection-related AIDS
continues to spread in the absence of syringe exchange programs.
The study, produced by the Dogwood Center of Princeton, NJ,
examines the states and cities with the highest rates of
injection-related AIDS.
New
Jersey ranks fifth among the ten worst states,
New Jersey has 3 metro areas among the 20 worst metro areas
of over 500,000 in the US: Jersey City ranks 3rd, Newark 4th,
and Bergen-Passaic 14th.
The
study is based on a special tabulation of data through 1998 from
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Injection-related AIDS cases include persons who inject
drugs and their heterosexual partners. In New Jersey, 70 percent
of all new AIDS cases start with sharing syringes.
Two
trends increase the likelihood of HIV spreading through the
sharing of syringes. First,
the price of heroin has fallen and purity increased.
Second, medical advances in AIDS treatment have resulted
in an increase in life expectancy for persons who inject drugs
and who are already infected with HIV/AIDS.
Four
of the top worst states in IV-drug-use-related AIDS do not permit
needle exchange programs (New Jersey among them).
"If
New Jersey is to achieve effective prevention of AIDS spread
through infected needles, the state must change existing laws
which prevent needle exchange programs," states Dr. Day.
"And it is vital that for HIV prevention all over
the United States that the federal government permit federal
funds to be used for needle exchange programs."
See the full report with additional
key information about New Jersey and other states.
# # #
|
10
worst states
|
|
1
|
New
York
|
|
2
|
Maryland
|
|
3
|
Delaware
|
|
4
|
Connecticut
|
|
5
|
New
Jersey
|
|
6
|
Louisiana
|
|
7
|
Pennsylvania
|
|
8
|
Florida
|
|
*9
|
Massachusetts
|
|
*9
|
Rhode
Island
|
|
20
worst metro areas of 500,000 +
|
|
1
|
New
York City
|
|
2
|
Baltimore,
MD
|
|
3
|
Jersey
City, NJ
|
|
4
|
Newark,
NJ
|
|
5
|
Wilmington,
DE
|
|
*6
|
Baton
Rouge, LA
|
|
*6
|
Hartford,
CT
|
|
8
|
West
Palm Beach
|
|
9
|
San
Francisco
|
|
10
|
New
Haven, CT
|
|
11
|
Philadelphia
|
|
12
|
Washington,
DC
|
|
13
|
Springfield,
MA
|
|
14
|
Bergen-Pass.,
NJ
|
|
15
|
New
Orleans, LA
|
|
16
|
Houston,
TX
|
|
*17
|
Miami,
FL
|
|
*17
|
Orlando,
FL
|
|
19
|
Rochester,
NY
|
|
20
|
Atlanta,
GA
|
|
*
|
Tie
|
|
