Home > Understanding the public health consequences of suspending a rural syringe services program: a qualitative study of the experiences of people who inject drugs.

Allen, Sean T and Grieb, Suzanne M and O’Rourke, Allison and Yoder, Ryan and Planchet, Elise and Hamilton White, Rebecca and Sherman, Susan (2019) Understanding the public health consequences of suspending a rural syringe services program: a qualitative study of the experiences of people who inject drugs. Harm Reduction Journal, 16, (33),

External website: https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/art...


This research demonstrates that the suspension of a syringe services program (SSP) in rural West Virginia increased risks for HIV/HCV acquisition and overdose among people who inject drugs (PWID). The suspension of the SSP led to community-wide decreases in access to sterile injection equipment and naloxone among PWID. The suspension of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department SSP should be viewed as a call to action for sustaining evidence-based interventions in the face of sociopolitical forces that attempt to subvert public health.

Repository Staff Only: item control page