National Academy of Sciences Needle Exchange Study Announced

AIDS/NEEDLE EXCHANGE January 1995

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) will be conducting a study for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to examine the effectiveness of needle exchange programs (John Bowersox, "Needle-Exchange Programs Show Promise for AIDS Prevention, NIDA Notes, Sept./Oct. 1994, p. 8). The study, which was ordered by Congress, will look at the rates of drug use before and after the introduction of the programs, changes in the behaviors of injection drug users as a result of the programs, and the transmission of HIV among users and their sex partners. The study will be completed sometime this year.