ALLEGHENY COUNTY TO CONTINUE NEEDLE EXCHANGE

PITTSBURGH -- The Allegheny County Council unanimously gave
permission to a privately run needle exchange program to continue
operating out of the county health department's offices.

Prevention Point Pittsburgh can now run the program out of the
offices in the city's Oakland neighborhood until May 31, 2007. At
that time, the nonprofit may ask for permission to continue the program there.

Every Sunday, drug users enter the health department headquarters
through a back entrance, present an anonymous identification number,
hand over a container of used needles and leave with sterile syringes.

The county Board of Health unanimously approved Prevention Point
Pittsburgh's program in 2001. Officials said they believed the high
rates of hepatitis C and HIV constituted a public health emergency.

The nonprofit also offers testing for blood-borne illnesses, such as
HIV, and helps people get into treatment centers.