August 2021

The House Appropriations Committee released the Fiscal Year 2022 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Funding Bill on July 11. Of note, the Biden administration has requested to increase funding to the Infections Diseases and Opioid Epidemic program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to expand access to syringe services programs (SSPs) from $56.5 million to $69.5 million in FY 2022 budget.

This will be the first time that the federal government explicitly advocates for the funding of SSPs. The bill removes a provision that has long prohibited federal funds from being used to purchase syringes, as part of a strategy to better serve the health needs of people who use injections drugs.

SSPs are community-based programs that provide people who inject drugs with sterile needles and other supportive services, such as HIV testing, treatment, and counseling. They are an important tool to connect vulnerable populations to affirming health care.

Access to syringes is a proven measure to reduce the occurrence of HIV transmission for people who use drugs. The Biden administration’s commitment to treatment and prevention takes into account the various avenues through which people living with HIV may receive health care services. By making sure people who use injection drugs can get tested regularly for HIV, the Biden administration will be able to create a contact point for hard-to-reach populations to deliver health care services–prevention, treatment, and counseling.

This decision is a further reflection of the commitment to care instead of criminalization of those who use drugs and people living with HIV. Broadening the umbrella of community concerns and access to care is a positive step towards decoupling criminalization from public health.

Drug policies are another way that laws are racialized and disproportionately impact marginalized communities. The ways in which drugs are regulated and their use criminalized impacts individuals, communities, and ecosystems of people–disproportionately Black and Latinx people.

Harm reduction is policy and practice. Decriminalization is key to reducing the harm that is done to marginalized communities. The carceral response hides problems; it does not solve them. We are encouraged by the administration’s repurposing of resources to encourage innovative solutions to solve lack of access to affirming health care.

The quality of life of people who use drugs is tantamount to achieving health equity in this country. HNP partners strongly support SSPs and programs aimed at serving people who use drugs. In our federal policy agenda, Demanding Better: An HIV Federal Policy Agenda by People Living with HIV, we call for the administration to end the criminalization of people who use drugs.

We see the creation and maintenance of SSPs as an important step towards that end. Protections for the most vulnerable amongst us are beneficial to society as a whole and we look forward to more opportunities for harm reduction in the work of this new administration.