Hudson County HIV/AIDS Services Planning Council
H.C.I.A., Eighth Floor
2 Journal Square Plaza
Jersey City, New Jersey 07306
Marvin W. Krieger, Program Director

The following resolution was passed at the Hudson County HIV/AIDS Services Planning Council, a Ryan White EMA Planning Council, on Wednesday January 6, 1999. The Planning Council established an ad hoc committee to research studies, both pro and con, related to the issue of harm reduction and needle exchange. The committee concluded, after three months, that there would have to be a comprehensive and multifaceted approach to harm reduction in order to be effective. The Planning Council had a lengthy discussion on the resolution and also on ways that it could be implemented. The following is viewed as a vital step in combating the problem of the spread of the HIV virus.:

The State of New Jersey currently has the fifth largest number of people infected with AIDS in the United States, with a cumulative total of 37,760. While approximately 31% of AIDS cases nationally are attributable to injection drug use, in New Jersey the rate is much higher at 52%. The number of persons in New Jersey living with injection-related HIV or AIDS increased by five percent in the year ending June 30, 1998. Of the 3,555 people currently living with HIV/AIDS in Hudson County, 1,248 (35%) of these cases are related to injection drug use. Jersey City has the second highest rate of injection-related AIDS among the 99 major metropolitan areas in the United States. While the statistics are certainly alarming, it is also important to remember that each new infection has a very profound impact on individuals, families, and society as a whole. The cost of preventing new HIV infections via injection drug use pales in comparison to the financial and human costs once one is infected. Because of this, and joining its voice with those of the following organizations and in agreement with the findings of the New Jersey Statewide Coordinated Statement of Need 1998 [for HIV/AIDS], the Hudson County HIV/AIDS Services Planning Council endorses Harm Reduction, including needle exchange, as a comprehensive means to effectively reduce the spread of HIV among injection drug users and their families:

In an effort to stem the ever-increasing rate at which men, women, and children are being infected with HIV in Hudson County directly and indirectly through injection drug use, the Hudson County HIV/AIDS Services Planning Council endorses the creation of a Comprehensive Harm Reduction Initiative throughout the eligible metropolitan area. The Comprehensive Harm Reduction Initiative should be composed of a broad range of services, including needle exchange; education on the importance of avoiding needle sharing, on safe injection techniques and safer sex practices; psychosocial support services; referral to HIV counseling and testing, health care, social services; the provision of condoms, dental dams, and bleach kits with instructions on their proper use. In order for the needle exchange program to work, the possession of syringes must be decriminalized. One of the most vital components to the Initiative should be drug treatment on-demand in a variety of modalities.

The Hudson County HIV/AIDS Services Planning Council recommends and urges that the chief elected officials and appointees of each municipality within the County of Hudson, New Jersey, study the need for a Comprehensive Harm Reduction Initiative within their own municipalities and the county as a whole. We further recommend that each chief elected official work in coordination with the municipality's Department of Health and Human Services to declare a public health emergency to effectively stem the rate at which increasing numbers of men, women, and children become infected with HIV directly or indirectly through injection drug use. Because Jersey City is clearly the epicenter of HIV infection via injection drug use, we urge the Mayor of Jersey City, the City Council, and the Department of Health and Human Services to allow the creation of a harm reduction/needle exchange pilot program within Jersey City.¹
 
 
 
 
 
 

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¹ AIDS Institute, New York State Department of Health. Status of Syringe Exchange/Harm Reduction Programs in New York State, 1988. Day, Dawn P.h.D. Health Emergency 1999 The Spread of Drug-Related AIDS and Other Deadly Diseases Among African Americans and Latinos. Dogwood Center. Press Release: Health Emergency 1999, 11/9/98. New Jersey Health and Senior Services, Division of AIDS Prevention and Control. New Jersey HIV/AIDS Quarterly Newsletter. 8/30/98. Rosett, Jane. "Ms. Thurman Goes to Washington" Poz Nov. 1998.