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Syringe Exchange Approved For Marion County

By Jill Sheridan, IPB News | Published on in Health, Statewide News
Syringes for exchange. (Photo: Jake Harper Side Effects)
Syringes for exchange. (Photo: Jake Harper Side Effects)

Indiana’s most populous county will now host a syringe exchange program to combat a rise in Hepatitis C cases.  As Indiana Public Broadcasting’s Jill Sheridan reports, Marion County saw an estimated 1,000 new cases last year.

The program will provide clean needles, screen for Hepatitis C and HIV and connect people treatment opportunities.  On Monday night, the City County Council unanimously approved it, after a series of public meetings.

Dr. Virginia Caine, director of the Marion County Public Health Department, says they are going to be strategic with the new mobile syringe unit.

“We’re going to try and utilize data from Indianapolis police to look at the hot spots. We will look at ambulance data to see where people are having drug overdoses,” says Caine.

Caine says the mobile unit will be able to screen and refer.

“If they have hepatitis C, how to link for them to get treated, how to manage their HIV infections, and there are a lot of wonderful resources that are out there,” says Caine.

Read More: To Avoid An HIV Outbreak, Does Indianapolis Need A Needle Exchange?

Eight Indiana counties have syringe exchange programs.   The programs were first approved by the General Assembly in 2015, as a response to an HIV outbreak in Scott County.  In 2017, lawmakers gave counties the option to approve their own exchanges, without having to get permission from the state.