Needle Exchange Programs Contend with COVID-19 Realities

Posted on May 08, 2020
A bag of masks, a bottle of Naxolone, a bag of clean needles and an informational flyer, all part of supplies distributed to people who use drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic by SPH's Community Outreach Intervention Projects.
Madison Hopkins - Better Government Association
SPH's Community Outreach Intervention Projects maintains supplies of clean needles, overdose reversal drugs and face masks to help its clients stay safe during the pandemic.

The Better Government Association profiled the work of SPH's Community Outreach Intervention Projects and the center's efforts to continue providing for the health needs of people who use drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The story illustrated challenges in reaching clients during shelter-in-place orders and risks caused by disruption in the synthetic opioid street market.

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You may have people going through severe withdrawal symptoms and a lot of desperate circumstances call for desperate measures.

Tryce Johnson  |  Community Outreach Intervention Projects

People initiating injection right now are not likely to be urban or black.  That’s a major shift from the ‘90s and ‘80s. That geographical shift had some impact on disease and transmission as you spread out into different geographies where it’s harder to reach people.

Basmattee Boodram, PhD  |  Associate Professor of Community Health Sciences

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Modified on May 07, 2020