WHEN IT COMES TO DRUG USERS & HIV, IDEOLOGY KILLS

In and around the 16th International AIDS Conference that wrapped up
last week in Toronto, there was plenty of feel-good discussion about
how far the United States has come in the battle against HIV/AIDS.

But there has been little talk about one shameful fact: Despite
overwhelming scientific evidence that syringe exchange programs save
lives, the U.S. government refuses to adopt this common-sense method
to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among people who inject drugs.

The consequences of the failure are significant. At least 6,000
intravenous drug users die from AIDS every year in the United States.
And in the U.S., a very high 22% of HIV infections are caused by the
sharing of contaminated syringes. Compare that to the percentages of
industrialized countries that have implemented syringe exchange
programs: in Australia, 4%; in the United Kingdom, 6%; in Canada, 17%.

Even Iran - a repressive and ideological regime in so many ways -
recently began establishing syringe exchange programs to combat its
growing HIV/AIDS problem. That places in still sharper relief just
how far the United States lags behind in implementing this proven
HIV/AIDS prevention strategy.

There's a reason the programs are spreading: They work. Every
medical, scientific and professional body to study the issue has
concluded that they reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS - and do not
encourage drug abuse. This includes the American Medical Association,
the American Public Health Association, the National Academy of
Sciences, the surgeon general of the United States, the National
Institutes of Health Consensus Panel and the AIDS Advisory
Commissions of the first President Bush and President Clinton.

The U.S. government's response to this mountain of scientific
support? Silence. In polite American political discussion, syringe
exchange programs remain a taboo subject. An explicit ban on the use
of federal money for syringe exchange programs remains in place -
with the U.S. government having spent not one penny in 25 years on
such programs. The United States is the only country in the world
with such a ban.

The AIDS epidemic has been a reality for a quarter-century. In the
early days of the disease, fear, hysteria and stigma surrounded it.
Those who were diagnosed with HIV lived in terror that friends, loved
ones and employers might find out. Some religious congregations
expelled HIV positive congregants. In 1999, TV's Judge Judy (Judy
Sheindlin), responding to a question about syringe exchange programs,
said, "Give them all dirty needles and let them die."

We pride ourselves that we have come far since those dark days.

But have we? At least when it comes to preventing HIV/AIDS among
people who inject drugs, our government defies logic and ignores
science. It turns its back on its most vulnerable citizens, refusing
to allow them access to a lifesaving health intervention.