Powerful coalition endorses federal syringe exchange legislation

Federal law authorizes syringe exchange programs - many organizations would like to see the federal government fund the programs also. In a letter to President Obama, the Hepatitis C Appropriations Partnership (HCAP) requested federal support for syringe exchange programs.

This impressive coalition of organizations all agree with the Texas Department of State Health Services that there is overwhelming scientific evidence that the transmission of HIV through injection drug use can be decreased significantly by needle exchange programs, and that they do not increase drug use. At this time, the group includes:

ACT UP Philadelphia
Agape Center, Woonsocket, RI
AIDS Action Baltimore
AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts
AIDS Action Council, Washington, DC
AIDS Alabama, Birmingham, AL
AIDS Community Research Consortium (ACRC), Redwood City, CA
AIDS Community Research Initiative of America, New York, NY
The AIDS Institute, Washington, DC
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
AIDS Support Network, San Luis Obispo, CA
AIDS Treatment Data Network, New York, NY
Alert Health, Inc., North Miami, FL
Alliance for Saving Lives, San Francisco, CA
American Liver Foundation
Arizona Hepatitis C Coalition
Asian Health Coalition of Illinois
Asian Liver Center at Stanford University
Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations
Bangor STD Clinic, Bangor, ME
CAB Health & Recovery Services, Lynn, MA
California Hepatitis Alliance (CalHEP)
Caring Ambassadors Program, Inc., Vancouver, WA
Cascade AIDS Project, Portland, OR
Chicago Recovery Alliance
Community Health Action of Staten Island
Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project
Discovery House: Bangor
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Weill Cornell Medical Center, NY
Drug Abuse Alternatives Center, Santa Rosa, CA
Florida Association of Public Health Nurses (FAPHN), Inc. Foundation for Healthy Living , Latham, NY
Georgia Doty Health Education Fund, IL
Greenview Hepatitis C Fund, Ann Arbor, MI
Harlem United Community AIDS Center
Harm Reduction Center of Southern Oregon
Harm Reduction Coalition
Hepatitis Support Network of Hawai’i
hepCmeditations project, Seattle, WA
Hep C Advocate Network, Inc. (HEPCAN), Longview, TX
HCV & HBV Support Group / O'Connor Hospital, Delhi, NY
H.E.A.L.S of the South, Hepatitis Education Awareness and Liver Support, Tallahassee, FL
Hep C Connection, Denver, CO
Hepatitis B Foundation
Hepatitis C Association, Scotch Plains, NJ
Hepatitis C Support Group – NYU Medical Center
Hepatitis C Support Project/HCV Advocate, San Francisco, CA
Hepatitis Education Project, Seattle, WA
Hepatitis Foundation International
Hepatitis Outbreaks’ National Organization for Reform (HONOReform)
HIV/AIDS Services for African Americans in Alaska, Anchorage, AK
HIVictorious, Inc., Madison, WI
HIV Alliance, Eugene, OR
Immunization Action Coalition
Latino Organization for Liver Awareness ( L.O.L.A.), New York, NY
Liver Health Today, Houston, TX
LiverHope, Minnetonka, MN
Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center
Lower East Side Harm Reduction Center, New York, NY
Maryland Hepatitis C Action, Annapolis, MD
Maryland Viral Hepatitis Task Force, Baltimore, MD
Maui AIDS Foundation
Mission Neighborhood Resource Center, San Francisco, CA
Mo Hepatitis C Alliance
National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors
National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA)
National Coalition of STD Directors
National Task Force on Hepatitis B: Focus on Asian and Pacific Islander Americans
National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable
New York Harm Reduction Educators Inc.
New Mexico Hepatitis C Alliance
North Shore Health Project, Gloucester, MA
NYC AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN)
Ohio Asian American Health Coalition
OraSure Technologies, Inc.
Piedmont HIV Health Care Consortium, Durham, NC
Point of Change, Inc., Detroit, MI
Positive Health Project, Inc., New York, NY
Project Inform, San Francisco, CA
PROYECTO SOL, Philadelphia, PA
San Mateo County AIDS Community Board, San Mateo, CA
Southern AIDS Coalition
St. Ann’s Corner of Harm Reduction, Bronx, NY
Status C Unknown, Inc., Medford, NY
Test Positive Aware Network (TPAN), Chicago, IL
Title II Community AIDS National Network, Washington, DC
Treatment Access Expansion Project
Treatment Action Group, New York, NY
The Virology Treatment Center, Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME
Upstate New York Hepatitis Awareness Project, Delancey, NY
Utah Department of Corrections
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
Virginia Hepatitis Education and Training Center, Springfield, VA
Visionary Health Concepts
VOCAL-NY Users Union
Wabanaki Mental Health, Bangor, ME
Weill Cornell Medical Center
Western Maine Community Action Health Services, Lewiston, ME
Wilson Resource Center, Arnolds Park, IA
Wings for Life