Growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in Berks, PA
Needle exchange programs key to prevention

Princeton, NJ –While AIDS deaths have fallen, the number of persons living with AIDS in Berks has grown throughout the 1995 to 1998 period, according to a new study released by the Dogwood Center of Princeton, NJ.

Over 380 residents of Berks County were living with HIV or AIDS and receiving AIDS services in 1998.

AIDS spread through infected needles is a growing part of the AIDS epidemic in Berks.  By 1998 persons infected through dirty needles accounted for 45 percent of all persons receiving HIV/AIDS services in Berks County.

Over 65 percent of persons infected through dirty needles and receiving services in 1998 were white.

According to Donna E. Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services:

A meticulous scientific review has now proven that needle exchange programs can reduce the transmission of HIV and save lives without losing ground in the battle against illegal drugs. To date, nearly 40 percent of the 652,000 cases of AIDS reported in the United States have been linked to injection drug use.  And more than 75 percent of babies diagnosed with HIV/AIDS were infected as a direct or indirect result of injection drug use by a parent.”

The American Medical Association and other professional health associations have passed strong resolutions supporting the establishment of needle exchange programs in the United States.

“Prevention is key to saving lives and slowing the spread of AIDS,” said Dr. Dawn Day, author of the study. “In Berks as in Philadelphia and elsewhere, effective prevention needs to include making sterile needles available to persons who inject drugs.

Dawn Day, Ph.D., is a sociologist specializing in HIV/AIDS transmission. The Dogwood Center is an independent research center working on public health and criminal justice issues.  

The entire report.

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