Borough Syringe Exchange Program Counts Successes
by richard gentilviso

“Dabeet walked in to the Bethesda Baptist Church site in May of this year... He told us that he occasionally used heroin,” read an excerpt from a progress report for a first-year client enrolled in the AIDS Center of Queens County (ACQC) Syringe Access Program.

“AIDS is gaining exponentially in our borough,” said Philip Glotzer, ACQC executive director. “Over one half of new [HIV] infections are a result of needle sharing,” he said, dispelling the notion HIV-infection is only sexually transmitted at the December meeting of the Queens Borough Cabinet.

Nationally, 3.4 deaths per 100,000 in population result from HIV infection. In New York the number rises to 10.7 per 100,000, triple the national average. That statistic, released in April by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, ranked New York in the bottom 10 percent among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Syringe exchange programs, which permit intravenous drug users to turn in dirty needles for clean ones without question, have been established under the auspices of ACQC in Queens Community Boards 2, 3, 12 and 14.

Approximately 10,000 needles have been exchanged citywide to clients such as Dabeet since ACQC opened. “Eight years ago we had 700 clients, today we have over 4,000,” Glotzer said. “Our goal is to meet people who are actively using (intravenous drugs) in a non-judgmental manner.”

ACQC serves 110 enrolled clients in the borough, having enrolled 12 new clients in November alone. They boast a return rate of 91.3 percent and refer 15 percent of clients, of which referrals 40 percent include in-depth education and counseling of drug use issues.

Using a concept of harm reduction”, ACQC seeks to help clients to make healthier decisions by assisting them with basic needs, such as housing, food, and clothing. “Until they are ready, willing and able to make healthier decisions, they will not change,” Glotzer said.

77 percent of ACQC clients are over 40 years old, and 43 percent are over 50 years of age, most being long-time heroin users for from 10 to 30 years and of varying ethnic and racial backgrounds. Few are homeless, although living situations are frequently unstable. Most have been in and out of drug treatment on many occasions.

The ACQC needle exchange program in Board 2 at 42-57 Hunter St., was originally planned to be housed in a mobile unit parked near Vernon Boulevard and Queens Plaza South, but that site was opposed by community leaders as too close to the Queensbridge Houses.

The rate of intravenous drug users with HIV infection in Long Island City Zip Code 11101 is almost four times higher than the rest of Western Queens, according to the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). In addition, 64 percent of all needle exchanges at the Long Island City ACQC site are from women, although the average rate of syringe return for women at every ACQC site tends to be higher than the overall rate. A report funded by the Commonwealth Fund, a private health advocacy group, showed the AIDS mortality rate for African-American women to be seven times higher than for white women.

“Queens Community Board 2 (Long Island City) was the first board to vote to have syringe exchange,” said Jessica Morris, DOHMH director of community relations.

“This program has been working well,” said Board 2 District Manager Dolores Rizzotto. Jonathan Gaska, district manager of Community Board 14 (Far Rockaway), Yvonne Reddick, district manager of Community Board 12 (Jamaica) and Giovanna Reid, district manager of Community Board 3 (Jackson Heights), also praised the ACQC syringe exchange program.

“We found the community boards to be our best allies,” said Glotzer, thanking them for their support.

“We made a difference with our needle exchange program,” said Borough President Helen Marshall, noting the initial proposal for the program was to conduct syringe exchange only. “Our approach was right,” she said. “I wanted them to be able to go to a place where they could exchange needles, but also, I wanted to know they could get help getting off drugs, too.”

“People can do better if you give them the tools to do better,” said Glotzer. As for Dabeet? “He’s been telling his friends about syringe exchange... this is the hard, slow work of harm reduction,” the report concluded.