SHALALA BACKS NEEDLE SWAPS BUT NOT FEDERAL FUNDING

The Clinton administration Monday decided not to provide federal funds for
needle exchange programs, despite evidence that they reduce the risk of HIV
infection and do not encourage drug use.

Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, who made the decision,
said it would be up to local communities to decide whether to fund their
own needle exchange programs.

"A meticulous scientific review has now proven that needle exchange
programs can reduce the transmission of HIV and save lives without losing
ground in the battle against illegal drugs," Shalala said in a statement.

The administration hopes Shalala's strong endorsement will lead to new
needle exchanges. But AIDS activists have said that federal money is key,
and Shalala's decision angered area AIDS advocates.

"Shalala has established a policy that is killing people," said Doug
Nelson, executive director of the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin. "It is
a complete abrogation of leadership. If Donna Shalala can't lead as the
chief of public health policy in this country, then she should resign."

According to Health and Human Services data:

40% of the 652,000 AIDS cases in the United States have been linked to
injection drug use.

More than 70% of infections among women of childbearing age are related
either directly or indirectly to injection drug use.

More than 75% of babies diagnosed with HIV/AIDS were infected as a direct
or indirect result of injection drug use by a parent.

A 4-year-old needle exchange program operating in the Milwaukee area, which
is funded by private sources, reaches about 2,000 of the 5,000 to 6,000
intravenous drug users here, Nelson said.

Nationwide, 88 needle exchanges are operating with private, state or local
funding, and numerous scientific studies and public health groups have
determined that such programs reduce the risk of HIV infection.

Congress banned the use of federal tax dollars to pay for needle exchanges
until Shalala certified that scientific studies proved the programs both
reduced spread of HIV and did not encourage drug use. After a months-long
review by her scientific advisers, Shalala decided that needle exchanges
were scientifically backed.

But whether to allow federal funding was debated heavily by administration
officials during the weekend. The decision came after Republicans in
Congress threatened to ban federal funding of needle exchanges altogether
if Shalala did decide to attempt it.

Most Milwaukeeans support needle exchange programs to fight AIDS and think
that tax revenue should help pay for them, according to a poll released
last month. The poll showed 57% approved, 36% disapproved and 7% were
undecided. The poll, conducted in December by the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Institute for Survey and Policy Research and funded
by the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin, was of 409 randomly selected
adults and had a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.