This commentary is by Mike Selick of Burlington. He is the associate director of capacity building for the National Harm Reduction Coalition, and a social worker with more than a decade of experience working at, running and supporting harm reduction programs around the country.
Syringe service programs are a highly effective intervention that have been studied in the U.S. for decades. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, SSPs reduce HIV and hepatitis C, and connect people to drug treatment. A CDC webpage states that SSP participants “are more than five times as likely to enter treatment for a substance use disorder and nearly three times as likely to report reducing or discontinuing injection as those who have never used an SSP.” Burlington has had a SSP for nearly 25 years. The CDC’s research also proves that SSPs do not increase drug use or crime.
Despite these well documented successes, the Burlington City Council recently unanimously passed a resolution on “evaluation and improvement of syringe exchange programs, syringe litter, and the environmental impact of syringe disposal in Burlington.” While this resolution seeks to address community concerns, it makes bold assumptions insinuating that significant amounts of syringes given out in our city end up on our city’s streets.
In fact, the city’s own data shows that there have never even been more than 1,000 reports of syringes found on SeeClickFix in a year, which is substantially less than the amount of syringes that are not returned to an SSP. This is because there are safe ways to dispose of syringes without returning them to the program.
I understand people’s concern about discarded syringes as a public health risk, but the risk is much lower than most know. In the U.S., there have been no known cases of HIV transmission due to a needlestick injury from a discarded syringe and hepatitis B and C transmissions from needlestick injuries have occurred very rarely.
The risk of blood-borne infection from needlesticks is lower because of how effective SSPs are at both preventing infection and reducing syringe litter. However, if you are stuck by a syringe, you should wash the wound well with soap and water and seek medical attention to ensure you are not a rare case of transmission.
Regardless of how essential syringe service programs are, I think we can all agree that we wish there were no discarded needles or syringes on our city streets and in our green spaces. There is much our city can do to reduce syringe litter, and advocates have been recommending solutions for years.
In fact, a decade ago the Burlington Board of Health and the City’s Council’s public safety committee collaborated with city workers and providers to develop recommendations. Many of those recommendations have not been fully implemented. They include investing in more and larger syringe drop boxes in public settings, providing material support for the syringe service program, investing more in city cleanup efforts, and education and outreach about safe syringe disposal.
Syringe litter is easy and safe to clean up if you know what to do. In fact, Vermont’s Department of Health recommends that if you see a syringe, you pick up yourself. They have put together an informational video on their website to provide guidance on how to pick up a syringe, put it in a safe container, and throw it in the trash. Together, we can make an impact ourselves.
On Dec. 1, in honor of World AIDS Day, we will be meeting in City Hall Park at 10 a.m. to do a syringe litter cleanup in downtown Burlington. All volunteers interested in helping to clean up our city are very welcome. I hope that city officials will join us as well. If you would like to help. please come meet us in the park and bring heavy-duty gloves, pliers or tongs, and a thick plastic container like a laundry detergent bottle.
We will have some supplies available, but encourage participants to bring their own to ensure we have enough for everyone. Volunteers will learn how to safely pick up and dispose of syringes before we split into teams to clean up. Wear long pants and closed-toe shoes as well.
Together, we can show the power of community-driven solutions and encourage the city to join us. Let’s work to make Burlington safer, more beautiful and more enjoyable for all. I hope to see you at 10 a.m. in City Hall Park on Dec. 1.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Mike Selick: Syringe service programs work. Let’s work together on syringe litter..