Does Enabling Drug Addicts Reduce Disease?

 

Do needle exchange programs encourage drug use or simply help prevent disease? PBS NEWSHOUR explores this question in a report on controversial “harm reduction” programs being used to combat HIV infection among drug users in Africa.

Worldwide, injecting drug users account for about 1 of every 10 new HIV infections, with the number rising to about 80 percent of new infections in some parts of the world. That’s why many public health officials believe that “harm reduction” strategies — including ensuring that clean needles are available every time a drug injection is made — are so crucial. Opponents say this kind of strategy contributes to the belief that drug use is acceptable.

In a special report, PBS NewsHour travels to Tanzania, the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to have implemented a full-scale harm reduction program for injecting drug users. There, two unlikely partners — a drug dealer and a nurse — work together on a dusty block in the neighborhood of Keko Mwanga to help addicts access fresh needles, condoms and HIV prevention and treatment services. Almost a full year into the intervention, drug dealer Fatuma Chande says: “Many of them have regained their health.”

Read The Street of Blood and Smoke here: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/multimedia/harmreduction/

PBS NewsHour is seen by over five million weekly viewers and is also available online, via public radio in select markets and via podcast. The program is produced in association with WETA Washington, D.C., and WNET in New York. Major funding for the PBS NewsHour is provided by BNSF Railway, BP & AT&T with additional support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public television viewers.

Contact: Anne Bell 703-998-2175.