Rep. Katie Edwards, D-Plantation, filed legislation today aimed at reversing Florida's -- particularly South Florida's -- abysmal numbers for the transmission of the HIV and hepatitis viruses among injection drug users.
HB 475 would create a five-year pilot program with the University of Miami to offer free, clean and unused needles and syringes in exchange for used needles and syringes as a means to prevent the transmission of blood borne diseases among intravenous drug users.
Injectable drug users would be able to exchange a used syringe for a new syringe on a 1:1 ratio in a safe environment. The bill would also offer addiction counseling and HIV testing.
"It's imperative that we take every preventative measure to halt the spread of diseases transmitted by intravenous drug use," said Rep. Katie Edwards in announcing her bill.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, Miami-Dade and Broward counties have the highest rate of new HIV infections in the country. There are currently more than 10,000 injection drug users in Miami-Dade County, with more than one in five being HIV positive. One-third of those users are affected with Hepatitis C.
Heroin abuse in the South Florida community has reached epidemic proportions. In 2013 there was a 25 percent increase of new HIV infections among intravenous drug users.
The estimated cost of treating an individual with HIV/AIDS is $385,200 to $618,900. The cost of a new syringe can be as low as 97 cents. If the program prevented 10 percent of new cases of HIV in injection drug users in Miami-Dade County, Edwards said, it would reduce treatment costs by an estimated $124 million to the state.
"The FMA is again in strong support of this medical student- and resident-sponsored initiative of the Miami-Dade Infectious Disease Elimination Act, to provide compassion to a group of individuals at risk for infections that can be as costly as they are deadly", stated the president of the Florida Medical Association, Alan B. Pillersdorf.
Since 1992 when needle exchange legislation was first introduced in New York State, there has been a 49 percent reduction in newly diagnosed HIV infections among injectable drug users. Furthermore, a five-year pilot program in Washington, D.C., showed an 80 percent reduction in new HIV cases.
If signed into law the bill would go into effect on July 1, 2015
