JAMAICA CHURCHES BATTLE AIDS WITH NEEDLE EXCHANGE

Needle exchange programs intended to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS
among drug users opened in two churches Monday in Jamaica, an area with one
of the highest rates of infection in the city.

The effort is a collaboration between the AIDS Center of Queens County and
Southeast Queens Clergy for Community Empowerment, an umbrella organization
of area congregations.

The religious group asked two of its members, Bethesda Missionary Baptist
Church at 179-09 Jamaica Ave. and the Evangelical Christian Church at Guy
R. Brewer Boulevard and 109th Avenue to host the exchanges.

While there was some community concern about the placement of the programs,
Rev. Charles Norris of Bethesda Missionary said his congregation did not
have a problem with it.

"We don't condemn drug addicts," he said Monday. "They have a problem."

The programs are open every Monday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Staffers will
offer condoms, information on abstinence and HIV/AIDS testing, Norris said.
He said the workers would only discuss religion or offer church pamphlets
if first asked.

The exchanges, which were approved by the area's Community Board 12 in
October and then by the state Health Department, come in response to the
high level of HIV/AIDS infections in southeast Queens. There are more than
1,700 people living with HIV in Jamaica and 201 residents were diagnosed
with the disease in 2002, according to statistics from the city Health
Department. The department's numbers also show that one in five intravenous
drug users in Queens are HIV positive or infected with AIDS.

A third program authorized by Community Board 12 and run by Queens Hospital
Center at the Charles Drew Center on Archer Avenue and Merrick Boulevard
has not yet opened. Its status could not be determined.