Debate continues over needle/syringe exchange programs

Matt Fisher, a research assistant at the Center for Strategic & International Studies' Global Health Policy Center, summarizes the ongoing debate in Congress over needle and syringe exchange programs (NSEPs) in this post on the SmartGlobalHealth.org blog. He presents a history of NSEPs and notes, "President Obama recently signed the FY12 omnibus spending bill that, among other things, reinstated the ban on the use of federal funds for needle and syringe exchange programs (NSEPs); this step reversed the 111th Congress' 2009 decision to allow federal funds to be used for these programs." He concludes that despite scientific evidence that NSEPs are an effective public health intervention, "ideological and moral opposition remains," and therefore, "the issue of federal funding will continue to be actively debated" (2/6).