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Federal Funding for Syringe Services Programs: Saving Money, Promoting Public Safety, and Improving Public Health 3 www.amfar.org injections (from the current level of 2.9 percent) would avert nearly 500 new HIV infections each year.34 Such an expansion in service coverage would cost an estimated $64 million—less than one-third the projected lifetime costs (an estimated $193 million) of treating these 500 cases.35 In other words, every dollar spent expanding service coverage to such a level would save at least an estimated three dollars in treatment costs averted.36 Further service expansion would save American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. 2. SSPs serve as vital bridges to treatment and prevention services Supporting recovery and breaking the cycle of drug use are key principles of the National Drug Control Strategy.37 SSPs support these aims. They serve as critical entry points for drug users, and link individuals to comprehensive treatment and care, such as in New Jersey, where more than 22 percent (998 individuals) of the 4,482 people served by New Jersey’s five SSPs from 2007 to 2009 entered a drug treatment program.38 By facilitating recovery from drug addiction, SSPs help individuals struggling with chemical dependence to repair their lives and become productive members of society. In one study, employment increased 44.8 percent within six months among clients of SSPs who received certain federal funding while the funding ban was removed.39 Clients of these SSPs were 25 percent more likely than non-SSP clients to have been successfully referred to mental health treatment and prescribed medication.40 As bridges to comprehensive treatment, prevention, and social services, SSPs improve individual and public health. SSPs also help clients infected with HIV or hepatitis C learn their status: in 2010, 67 percent of SSPs surveyed nationally offered hepatitis C testing, and 87 percent offered HIV testing and counseling.41 SSP clients who test HIV positive can be connected to life- saving and cost-effective treatment, while those who test HIV negative receive HIV prevention counseling and access to condoms, helping interrupt the cycle of HIV transmission. Every dollar spent expanding service coverage to such a level would save at least an estimated three dollars in treatment costs averted. Source: Nguyen, T.Q., Weir, B.W., Pinkerton, S.D., Des Jarlais, D.C., & Holtgrave, D. (July 23, 2012). Increasing investment in syringe exchange is cost-saving HIV prevention: modeling hypothetical syringe coverage levels in the United States (MOAE0204 - Oral Abstract). Presented at the XIX International AIDS Conference, Washington D.C. Abstract available online at http://pag.aids2012.org/Abstracts.aspx?SID=198&AID=17268. (date last accessed: December 11, 2012) SSP syringe coverage Additional investment required & savings in HIV treatment costs (million 2011 USD) for each SSP syringe coverage level Selected Services Offered by SSPs in 2010 Source: