STATE MUST PICK UP THE BALL

The City of Milwaukee had the chance to do the right thing last year on
needle exchange and dropped the ball. The Clinton administration fumbled
earlier this year and now the County Board has made the same blunder,
despite the courageous leadership shown by County Executive F. Thomas Ament.

When supervisors last week narrowly rejected using $100,000 in county funds
for the needle exchange program run by the AIDS Resource Center of
Wisconsin, it wasn't really surprising. No matter how well needle exchange
works, it's often misunderstood by good people and demonized by others.

We believe it's now up to state officials, including Gov. Tommy Thompson,
to lead the way on this urgent public health issue and provide state
funding for needle exchange programs in Wisconsin. Public money is already
being used in other places, including Minneapolis, Chicago, Kansas City,
San Diego, Baltimore, Cleveland and Tucson.

This would be a natural fit for Wisconsin, with our reputation for quality
health care, and the Thompson administration, with its reputation for
breaking new ground.

Unlike President Clinton, who had the opportunity to lift the federal
funding ban on needle exchange earlier this year but couldn't summon the
political courage to do so, Thompson has shown he is unafraid to venture
into uncharted waters, such as welfare reform or designing an innovative
new program to provide quality health care to the working poor.

Needle exchange programs -- in which clean needles are exchanged for used
needles -- do help stem the spread of HIV. About 40% of all new HIV cases
have been linked to the sharing of used needles. Plus, needle exchange
programs do not encourage drug use. Just the opposite.

The Milwaukee program, run by the AIDS Resource Center, is considered one
of the most effective in the nation. In each of the last two years, about
150 drug users have been persuaded to enter the center's drug treatment
program and about half have successfully completed it.

Thorough studies by reputable organizations, including the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, have shown needle exchange works. The
American Medical Association, the National Public Health Association and
the National Academy of Sciences have endorsed it to stem the spread of AIDS.

Critics like to point to two recent Canadian studies to support their claim
that needle exchange doesn't work, but even the authors of these studies
say this is a misinterpretation of their research. Without needle exchange,
HIV infections would have been even higher, the authors say.

With the exception of Madison, where some local public dollars are used,
needle exchange in Wisconsin is paid for with private money -- although
more of that needs to come from hospitals and health insurers. Officials at
the AIDS Resource Center say they could reach far more people if they had
public money, too. About $250,000 in state funds would be enough to address
these needs in most of Wisconsin.

This is not only humane but cost-effective; many of those who do get AIDS
invariably end up on medical assistance, where the cost of treating them
far exceeds any public dollars spent on clean needles.

Needle exchange isn't a radical idea. It's the right idea.