1. What do Syringe Services Programs (SSPs) mean
for Ohio?
"The health impact and costs that we incur as a result of HIV, hepatitis and other diseases transmitted
through the use of shared or dirty needles is enormous…I don't have any evidence to suggest any
correlation at all between the needle exchange program and crime."
--Martin Flask, director of public safety for Cleveland and former police commander.
Why Ohio?
2,112 people in Ohio have developed AIDS from injection drug use (IDU)1. By taking the lead (starting in
1995) Ohio has set an example for the rest of the nation:
 Cumulative AIDS Cases attributable to IDU: 11.5% (versus 25.2% nationally)1
 Percent of people currently living with HIV/AIDS in Ohio because of IDU: 6%2
Access to SSPs Disproportionately
Affects Latinos & African Americans
 Although African Americans account for only
12.3% of the Ohio population, 44% of new HIV
infections attributed to IDU are among African
Americans.
 Latinos account for 3.1% of the Ohio population
and 19% of new HIV infections due to IDU.3
SSPs work in Ohio
 New infections from IDU in 1995: 17.5%
 New infections from IDU in 2009: 3.4%4 (versus
9% nationally5)
The current situation in Ohio
 There are SSPs in Cleveland, Portsmouth and Cincinnati.
 Ohio’s oldest SSP is the Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland.
 The clinic provides HIV and hepatitis testing, safer sex education, immunizations for hepatitis A and B, and
drug treatment.
 The clinic has served over 1,158 registered clients.
 Due to lack of funding, the clinic is able to serve only one-third of those in need.6
 The programs in Portsmouth and Cincinnati were developed to meet the need caused by the epidemic of
prescription drug use.
Nationwide, the faith communities support SSPs
The Episcopal Church, The Presbyterian Church of the United States, the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian
Universalist Association, The Society of Christian Ethics, the Union for Reform Judaism and the Central
Conference of American Rabbis have all issued formal statements supporting SSPs.
SSPs save money and lives
1
Kaiser Family Foundation. Estimated Numbers of AIDS Diagnoses Among Adults and Adolescents, by Transmission Category, Cumulative through
2010. Available online at http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=845&cat=11&sub=118&yr=263&typ=2&o=a&sortc=2
2
Cleveland Department of Health. Available at http://www.clevelandhealth.info/cdphbin/HIVAIDS_PREVALENCE_EXPOSURE_Q3_2011.pdf
3
U.S. Census Bureau. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39000.html
4
Emmanuel Romero. Cleveland has Ohio's onlylegal syringe exchange program. September 20, 2010.
Available online at http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2010/09/cleveland_has_ohios_only_legal.html
5
VIRGINIA HIV EPIDEMIOLOGY PROFILE 2011. Available at http://www.vdh.state.va.us/epidemiology/DiseasePrevention/Profile2011/IDU_2011.pdf
6
Emmanuel Romero. Cleveland has Ohio's onlylegal syringe exchange program. September 20, 2010.
Available online at http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2010/09/cleveland_has_ohios_only_legal.html
New HIV Infections among IDUs by
Ethnicity in Ohio, 2010
White
African American
Latino
Other
Chart source: Cleveland Department of Health. Available at
http://www.clevelandhealth.info/cdphbin/HIVAIDS_PREVALEN
CE_EXPOSURE_Q3_2011.pdf

2. Studies have found that every $1 invested in syringe services programs results in $3-7 in savings.7
7
Nguyen TQ. Increasing investment in syringe exchange is cost-saving HIV prevention: modeling hypotheticalsyringe coverage levelsin the United
States. Nineteenth International AIDS Conference, Washington DC, abstract MOAE0204, 2012.