Needle Exchange Programs and Supervised Injection Sites as
Possible Effective Solutions for Harm Reduction among People Who
Inject Drugs
Xuling Fu
The United States is under an opioid epidemic crisis, and drug misuse is
a serious issue in society and impacts public health. Therefore, it’s
important that people can acknowledge the situation and take action to
reduce the impacts of illicit drugs. This paper is not only for the people
who have little knowledge about the intravenous drug misuse issue,
people who inject drugs and their families, the people who don’t know
about the syringe service programs or supervised injection sites, but
also everyone, anyone who can get involved in drug misuse intervention.
Abstract
The United States is under an opioid epidemic crisis: the population
of people who inject drugs (PWID) in the United States is huge. People
who inject drugs are exposed to a high risk of blood-borne diseases, such
as HIV and viral hepatitis, and other infectious diseases by sharing
injection equipment and engaging in other risky behavior. The high rate
of fatal overdoses among PWID is also a serious problem. Family
members of PWID and other people in their communities may also
undergo high risk of blood-borne diseases. Also, inappropriate injection
litter disposal and injection in public spaces impacts the entire
community. In addition, a lot of community resources are involved to
respond to drug-related harm. Both syringe service programs and
supervised injection sites serve as effective approaches to combat the
opioid crisis in the United States. Both programs reduce the infection