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health intervention that reduces the transmission of HIV and does not encourage the use of illegal drugs."

The American Academy of Pediatrics, a major association of pediatric doctors, recently revised their official policy manual to include a statement encouraging pediatricians to advocate for increased access to needle exchange programs. This public health consensus ought to be enough to convince Congress to lift the ban on federal funding of needle exchange programs.

In 1988, when they enacted the ban, Congress stated that if "the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) presents scientific evidence that they cut the spread of AIDS and don't increase drug use," the ban would be lifted. (Bettelheim 1056) As noted above, in 2000, the Surgeon General revealed that there was unanimous agreement between the senior members of HHS on both of those counts; yet, seven years later, the ban is still in place.

In a 2004 New York Times editorial, Brent Staples addressed the enormity of this standstill, suggesting that "narrow-mindedness at the federal level has cost lives, leaving the country 20 years behind where it could be in the battle against AIDS." If Congress fulfilled their commitment of 1988 and lifted the ban, needle exchange programs would be able to reach many more people and the number of new HIV infections would certainly decrease.

People who are actively using injection drugs are often difficult for healthcare and service providers to reach. In addition to their role in reducing disease transmission, needle exchange programs are a valuable public health initiative because they can link these individuals with information, materials and resources. Needle exchange locations can serve as a distribution site for condoms, information about safer sex, information about how to clean needles and syringes, links to drug treatment programs, and links to drug and alcohol counseling.

Some opponents to needle exchange programs contend that instead of providing clean needles, government funding should be used for drug treatment programs. However, as the editors of the New York Times point out, even if there were far more treatment programs in existence, "drug users would need to wait months or even years for help. In the meantime, they would face almost certain infection without access to clean needles." In actuality, needle exchanges and drug treatment programs mutually support each other, providing a myriad of options for active drug users who are seeking to increase

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