Indiana governor declares HIV public health emergency, announces needle exchange program

Indiana governor announces needle exchange program after declaring HIV public health emergency
(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) declared a public health emergency in Scott County, Indiana, on Thursday in response to an HIV outbreak, and authorized a temporary needle-exchange program.

The Associated Press reports that Scott County has seen 79 new HIV infections this year, all of which resulted from intravenous drug use. State epidemiologist Pam Pontones told AP that the majority of infections occurred when people injected themselves with the prescription painkiller Opana using shared syringes.

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Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.