HEP251 Module 5 Harm Reduction Program Rationale

Drugs and substance abuse have been a major problem in the United States, and the state of Arizona has not been an exception. According to data, some of the commonly abused drugs in Arizona include stimulants such as methamphetamine and marijuana, followed closely by heroin (Wu et al., 2020). Phoenix is one of the major cities in Arizona and has the highest number of reported drug abuse throughout the state. From 2018 to 2019, Maricopa County witnessed 1,389 deaths resulting from a drug overdose, with most of these deaths being attributed to opioids, methamphetamine, and alcohol (Li & Zhu, 2019). Drug and substance abuse are closely related to infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and this is attributed to the sharing of needles to inject drugs into the body (Wang & Maher, 2019). The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Arizona is high. Data reported in 2019 indicates that 18,462 people lived with HIV/AIDS. New HIV/AIDS cases were 776, increasing the incidence rate from 10.8 cases per 100,000 in 2018 to 10.7 cases per 100,000 (Gutiérrez et al., 2022). In 2019, 12,354 people were living with HIV in Phoenix city, with 489 people newly diagnosed with HIV.

According to the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, community education is one of the evidence-based practices currently in place to help curb the spread of HIV/AIDS (Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation). The community education programs are aimed at providing relevant and appropriate health and wellness support and resources to support the community in playing an active role in achieving, protecting, and sustaining their health and wellness. Apart from providing health education, the community education program also follows CDC’s best practices concerning health communication and structural-level condom distribution programs. These programs provide crucial information such as how HIV/AIDS is transmitted and how it is prevented.

The current harm reduction program, despite providing health education regarding HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention, does not help to reduce cases of HIV/AIDS that result from sharing needles among drug addicts. Based on this, I suggest setting up a clean-needle exchange site at the local Phoenix chapter of the American Red Cross as one of the best evidence-based harm reduction practices to help drug addicts access uncontaminated needles, and this will help reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS in Phoenix city. For example, many people share needles to inject heroin into their bodies with total disregard of their peer’s HIV status, and this plays a role in increasing the rate of infection.

References

Gutiérrez, M., Brooks-Hawkins, J., Hassan, K., & Wolfersteig, W. (2022). Relationship of health rating and HIV-related stigma among people living with HIV: a community study. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 9(1), 1-9.

Li, W., & Zhu, Q. (2019). The opioid epidemic and local public financing: Evidence from municipal bonds. Available at SSRN 3454026.

Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, (2022). Community Education. Retrieved from: https://www.saaf.org/hiv-prevention-and-testing/community-presentations/

Wang, S. C., & Maher, B. (2019). Substance use disorder, intravenous injection, and HIV infection: a review. Cell Transplantation, 28(12), 1465-1471.

Wu, S., Yan, S., Marsiglia, F. F., & Perron, B. (2020). Patterns and social determinants of substance use among Arizona Youth: A latent class analysis approach. Children and Youth Services Review, 110, 104769.