Typical needle exchange programs give sterile syringes to patients using drugs so they can avoid infections caused by reused needles. They also get other healthcare services.
The Howard Center prescribes buprenorphine on the spot to help patients manage withdrawal symptoms. Howard Center’s needle-exchange program started in 2000 and serves 5,000 patients.
Kimberly Blake, MD, OB-GYN, who runs the needle-exchange program, told Vox, her main motivation to join and expand the center’s overdose management was her son’s death attributed to fentanyl.
More articles on opioids:
Opioid prescriptions fall by 25%, Scripps Health reports
Sackler family faces legal action over role in opioid epidemic
Opioid misuse study examines trends based on sexual orientation
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