Research

Urgent need to expand SSP in South Carolina

Commentary

Over 100,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in the year ending April 2021, a 28.5% increase. Syringe Services Programs (SSPs) effectively reduce these deaths and infections while boosting recovery enrollment. However, South Carolina and several other states have not yet legalized them. Despite legal barriers, the organization Challenges Inc. successfully distributes naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and clean needles while treating HIV/Hepatitis C. To fully combat the overdose crisis, policymakers must urgently legalize SSPs.

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2023 SC Harm Reduction and Syringe Program Symposium

White Paper

On Friday, June 9, 2023, the Prisma Health Addiction Medicine Center in Greenville, South Carolina hosted over 175 individuals from multidisciplinary backgrounds to discuss the current landscape of harm reduction services and to share ideas to foster access to these services in the state.

This white paper prepared by Jodi Manz, Clear Bell Solutions, summarizes the content delivered by expert speakers at the South Carolina Harm Reduction and Syringe Service Program Symposium.

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Legality of Syringe Access Programs in South Carolina

SC SSP Policy Brief & Fact Sheet

Unfortunately, paraphernalia laws in many states make it difficult for syringe access programs to operate, although this is not the case everywhere. This brief factsheet discusses the legality of SAPs in South Carolina. It concludes that South Carolina law does not prohibit the distribution of syringes and other injection equipment from SAPs. It further concludes that the possession and distribution of syringes and other injection equipment is not prohibited in the state.

Retrieved from The Network for Public Health Law.

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South Carolina IV Drug Use Facts

HIV in SC

Hepatitis C (HCV) in SC

South Carolina has the nation’s eighth-highest rate of new HIV diagnoses. Community based, nonprofit SSP proves to be one of the best methods of decreasing new HIV infection rates.

Private insurance covered only 17% of the cost of hospital-based treatment for HIV in 2018. The balance was covered by Medicare (39.5%), Medicaid (27.8%) or billed to indigent/self-pay patients (15.7%) (IMPH, 2019). In South Carolina, the average lifetime cost for treating one person living with HIV is $478,000 (in 2017 dollars), whereas a new syringe costs about 10 cents..

Hepatitis C (HCV) in SC

Private insurance covered only 11.6% of the cost of hospital-based treatment for HCV in 2018. The balance was covered by Medicare (37.8%), Medicaid (24.7%) or billed to indigent/self-pay patients (26%) (IMPH, 2019).

Each individual with HCV who injects drugs infects an average of 20 other people. Leading public health agencies around the globe acknowledge syringe service programs as one of the most effective measures against the spread of HCV (IMPH, 2019). There has been a significant increase in the cost of hospital-based treatment for HCV in South Carolina from $198.5 million in 2009 to almost $347 million in 2018.1 Again, a new syringe costs about 10 cents...

CDC Response in SC

Hepatitis C (HCV) in SC

CDC Response in SC

"In January 2019, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) received verification from the CDC that South Carolina is at high-risk for HIV and HCV outbreaks due to increased opioid use and unsafe drug injection activities in the state. This CDC response not only emphasizes the need that exists in South Carolina to fund SSPs, but also provides recommendations for implementing this effective public health intervention to address these co-occurring epidemics" (IMPH, 2019).

Additional Information

Between 2014 and 2015, Scott County Indiana saw an HIV outbreak of over 200 new infections of HIV with a 90% Hepatitis C co occurrence rate. Since the inception of the Scott County Syringe Services Programs, there have been less than 5 new cases of HIV in preceding years. *(1)
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other national public health leaders view SSPs as a key component of a comprehensive strategy for combatting the nation’s opioid crisis and reducing the transmission of infectious disease, thereby saving lives and money (CDC, 2019).
SSPs are safe, effective, cost-saving, do not increase illegal drug use or crime and are frequently supported by law enforcement officials and emergency workers. *(2)
There is an estimated return on investment of $7.58 for every $1 spent for non-profit SSPs. *(3)

References

(1)

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6416a4.htm

http://imph.org/wp-

(2)

content/uploads/2019/12/PolicyBrief_OpioidEpidemicInfectiousDisease.pdf

(3)

https://imph.org/addressing-the-opioid-epidemic-and-preventing-the-spread-of-infectious-disease-through-the-provision-of-syringe-services-programs-2/