NEEDLE EXCHANGES WORK

The critique of needle-exchange programs by Rep. Mark Souder contained a
number of inaccuracies [letters, Aug. 23]. For one, the Canadian studies in
Montreal and Vancouver are cited mistakenly as evidence against the
effectiveness of needle-exchange programs. However, last year on the op-ed
page of the New York Times, the authors of those studies wrote that their
research was being misinterpreted. They stated that a comprehensive
approach, including needle exchange, was needed to reduce the spread of HIV
among injection-drug users.

More recently, two Canadian studies found no evidence that needle-exchange
programs increase HIV transmission and provide additional evidence in
support of the effectiveness of these programs.

Mr. Souder also misinterprets recent data from needle-exchange programs in
Baltimore. In fact, the researchers from Johns Hopkins School of Public
Health state that their studies support the role of needle-exchange programs
as part of comprehensive HIV prevention in Baltimore.

We are concerned about the increasing number of politicians who cite science
as the rationale for not funding needle-exchange programs. The science
supporting needle exchanges is clear and has been for some time.

In April 1998, nine leading government scientists -- including the director
of the National Institutes of Health, the surgeon general, the director of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the director of the
National Institute on Drug Abuse -- reviewed all of the research and
unanimously agreed that needle exchanges are effective and do not encourage
drug use. Additionally, numerous respected organizations -- including the
National Academy of Sciences, National Institutes of Health, American
Medical Association, American Bar Association and the American Public Health
Association -- have reviewed the research on needle-exchange programs and
come to the conclusion that they are effective.

JEROME J. RADWIN

Chief Executive Officer

American Foundation for AIDS Research

ALLAN ROSENFELD

Dean, Mailman School of Public Health

Columbia University

New York