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HIV & Needles

According to the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland, 36 percent of all HIV diagnosed cases within the United States are associated with the injection of drug use, making it the second leading cause of HIV transmission. The AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland recommends using a syringe program to decrease the spread of HIV.

  1. Sharing Needles

    • Avert is an international HIV and AIDS charity that works to prevent the spreading of this disease. This organization claims that many people who contract AIDS by sharing needles do so because they lack sterile syringes and because drug laws in certain countries make it hard to distribute syringes for nonmedical reasons. People also share needles as a part of social and cultural norms and to bond.

    Health Care Workers and Needles

    • Even though health care workers might not share needles, they run the risk of being infected with HIV when they treat people with this disease. Health care workers must follow strict infection control guidelines in order to prevent infection. These guidelines include using syringes and needles only once, cleaning and sterilizing needles after every use and wearing protective equipment such as gowns, gloves and eyewear when carrying out procedures involving blood and body fluid.

    Syringe Exchange Programs

    • The AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland states that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other governmental agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, conclude that syringe exchange programs reduce HIV transmission without increasing drug use. They also concluded that syringe exchange programs reduce the number of discarded needles within public areas.

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