"The basic service offered by SSPs [Syringe Services Programs] allows PWID [People Who Inject Drugs] to exchange used needles and syringes for new, sterile needles and syringes. Providing sterile needles and syringes and establishing appropriate disposal procedures substantially reduces the chances that PWID will share injection equipment and removes potentially HIV- and HCV-contaminated syringes from the community. Many SSPs have become multiservice organizations, providing various health and social services to their participants (8). HIV and HCV testing and linkage to care and treatment for substance use disorders are among the most important of these other services. The availability of new and highly effective curative therapy for HCV infection increases the benefits of integrating testing and linkage to care among the services provided by SSPs."
Don C. Des Jarlais PhD, Ann Nugent, Alisa Solberg MPA, Jonathan Feelemyer MS, Jonathan Mermin MD, and Deborah Holtzman PhD. "Syringe Service Programs for Persons Who Inject Drugs in Urban, Suburban, and Rural Areas - United States, 2013," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) 2015;64:1337-1341.
