Harris County Officials Discuss Syringe Access Legislation

Officials representing the Harris County Commissioners' Court, Houston City Council, Houston Police Department, Harris County Hospital District, Harris County criminal courts, HIV service providers, and state level elected officials attended a luncheon yesterday at the United Way of Greater Houston to learn and share the latest information about syringe access programs and the pending Texas legislation.

Dr. William Martin, Senior Fellow for Drug Policy at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, and Randall Ellis, Senior Director for Government Relations at Legacy Community Health Services, each made excellent presentations. Attendees were able to ask questions and share the latest information and insights from their perspective.

Dr. Martin had some in tears as he gave us a metaphor for the current syringe access situation in Texas (it is currently a crime punishable by incarceration to give a drug user a clean syringe in Texas) through a story of two neighbors who met in Heaven:

One neighbor in Heaven said to the other: "You mean you knew about Him the whole time we lived next to one another but you never mentioned Him to me?"

Imagine yourself working in a health care facility, he said, and you are approached by an injection drug user who has contracted AIDS by using a dirty needle. The dying person looks into your eyes and says, "You mean you knew a simple way to prevent the spread of this disease that is killing me, and you never mentioned it to me?"

Distributing a clean needle to an injection drug user and offering her a bridge to recovery costs about 7 cents. Learn more here.

Senate Committee Could Vote on Syringe Access Bill Next Week

Senator Deuell and Senator Van de Putte's syringe access bill, SB 188, is set to be heard by the Senate Health & Human Services Committee on Tuesday, March 3, 2009, at 9:00 AM in the Texas capitol in the Senate Chamber. You can see the full text of the bill and its fiscal note here. Last session, this committee approved the bill by a vote of 7 to 1. If a majority of the committee members vote to approve the bill on Tuesday, it can be considered by the full Senate. Find names and contact information for the Senators who sit on the committee here.

Find legislative history and background information about syringe access in Texas here.

House Bills 142 & 272 gain new bi-partisan support

Last week the Access Project let you know that Representative Joe Crabb signed on as a joint author of House Bill 272, by Representative Solomon Ortiz, Jr. Well today Representative Crabb demonstrated his support for disease prevention again by signing on as a joint author of House Bill 142, by Representative Ruth Jones McClendon. Thanks again Representative Crabb!

Disease prevention and outreach programs gained even more bi-partisan support today when Republican Representative Brian McCall, Chair of the House Committee on Calendars, signed on as a joint author of House Bill 272. Thanks so much Chairman McCall!

House Bill 272 is referred to committee & receives a new Joint Author

Today House Bill 272, by Representative Solomon Ortiz, Jr., received its first reading and was then referred to the Committee on Public Health. I am also happy to report that last week Republican Representative Joe Crabb, Vice Chair of the Committee on Rules & Resolutions, signed on as a joint author of HB 272. Many thanks to Representative Crabb!

House Bill 142 referred to committee

House Bill 142, by Representative Ruth Jones McClendon, received its first reading and was then referred to the Committee on Public Health.

President Obama Makes U.S. Support for Needle Exchange Official

As reported by PRI The World, "In a significant break from both Mr. Bush and Bill Clinton before him, Barack Obama is making his support for needle exchange programs official."

The United States now officially acknowledges that our priority is to save lives and give our fellow human beings an opportunity to recover from addiction. This week the United States gave its negotiators at the United Nations summit new guidelines: "The US will endorse and support needle exchange programs."

The next logical step for the Obama administration will be to lift the federal ban on funding needle exchange programs, as promised during his campaign. This will allow all health institutions who receive federal funds to offer safe and clean needles to people so they can stop spreading deadly infections.

There is no better way to offer an opportunity to recover from addiction to an injection-drug user than when we have a chance to interact with them and show them how to care for their own health. Needle exchange programs are the number one path to recovery for these Texans.

Today, it is a crime in Texas to distribute clean needles - in fact, the Bexar County DA is currently trying to put an elder clergy member into jail as punishment. But the Texas legislature can change the law this session, bringing Texas into line with the rest of the world when it comes to compassion and saving human life. Get the latest updates on this blog and this site.

Senate Bill 188 referred to committee

Senate Bill 188, by Senators Deuell and Van de Putte, received its first reading and was then referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services.

Dallas Morning News: Public Health Officials Must Take Steps to Curb HIV

Thank you Dallas Morning News Editorial Columnist James Ragland for highlighting the harrowing statistics on HIV in Dallas. The disease is spinning out of control:

"Dallas County had the state's highest HIV rate in 2006 and 2007. More than 13,500 folks are living with HIV/AIDS in Dallas, a 35 percent increase in the last five years, according to a report by the county's Health and Human Services Department.

"The black community is really feeling the brunt of careless lifestyle choices: Black residents make up just 20 percent of the county's population, but they represented a whopping 46 percent of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in 2007.

"Worse still, the infection rate among 13- to 24-year-olds nearly tripled over the last five years. That's a group we can least afford to have succumbing to a virulent disease, particularly when you consider the mounting costs of HIV care. We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars a year, most of which is coming out of the federal till."

He points out that, whatever our value system, public health officials must take advantage of simple prevention tools to stop the spread of the deadly infectious disease - especially when saving lives costs pennies:

"Make no mistake, my conservative religious cohorts are right on the mark when they argue that our fundamental challenge still is in overhauling the value systems of those who willingly or unwittingly put themselves in harm's way by sleeping around or sharing needles.

"But changing deep-rooted behaviors – an ongoing, epic battle whose end is nowhere in sight – is only part of the solution to this health crisis.

"It's also vitally incumbent upon public-health officials to do everything they can to control and curb a disease that poses a very tangible threat"

Visit this site for the latest, and sign up for free email updates, on what the Texas legislature is doing to prevent the spread of infectious disease.

Bush-era envoys to the UN blocking global promotion of syringe exchange

An article in the Washington Independent last week examines how envoys to the United Nations who were appointed by the last administration are blocking global efforts to promote HIV/AIDS prevention programs. The article goes on to question the envoys actions considering the fact that President Obama has clearly stated his support for syringe exchange programs in the Civil Rights section of his Agenda.

According to the article several members of Congress are now getting involved.

The episode has attracted the attention of some congressional Democrats. In a Jan. 28 letter to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.) cite “an apparent disconnect in U.S. policy” as it pertains to efforts to promote needle exchange to fight HIV/AIDS.

“We understand that the U.S. delegation in Vienna has been actively blocking the efforts of some of our closest allies — including the European Union — to incorporate in the declaration reference to harm reduction measures, such as needle exchange,” the Democrats wrote. They’re urging that the delegation “should immediately be given new instructions from the highest levels of the new Administration.”

If you want to let President Obama know how you feel about this situation you can visit the Contact Us page on WhiteHouse.gov.