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July 30, 2008
The Honorable
José E. Serrano
U.S.
House of Representatives
2227 Rayburn
House Office
Building
Washington,
D.C. 20515-3216
Dear Mr. Serrano:
We, the
undersigned organizations, are writing to express
our sincere thanks and support for your efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS
and
hepatitis epidemic through introduction of the Community AIDS and
Hepatitis Prevention
Act of 2008. Providing sterile syringes is a simple, cost-effective
method of
saving lives.
Intravenous drug
use remains a major contributor to the
domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic. In
2006, 20%
of the reported AIDS cases were attributed directly or indirectly to
injection
drug use. Since the
beginning of the
epidemic, almost 400,000 people have become infected with HIV through
contaminated injection drug equipment.
By allowing
federal dollars to fund Syringe Exchange
Programs, the Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention Act of 2008 will
save
thousands of lives. Communities will be enabled to determine which
scientifically proven prevention methods are best suited to serve their
own
epidemic without unwarranted restrictions by the federal government.
Syringe
Exchange Programs already exist in 36 states, the District
of Columbia and Puerto
Rico,
where they serve as a proven method of preventing the transmission of
HIV and hepatitis
C without increasing the use of injection drugs in the communities they
serve. A 2005
international review and
eight additional Federally funded research reports concluded that
syringe
exchange programs, as a part of a comprehensive HIV prevention
strategy, are an
effective public health intervention that reduces HIV transmission
without
increasing the use of illicit drugs. Moreover, these programs serve as
a bridge
to treatment for drug addiction.
The Community
AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention Act of 2008 is a
truly non-partisan issue and we encourage all Members of Congress to
sign on as
a co-sponsor. Again, we thank you for your continued efforts to fight
HIV/AIDS
and hepatitis and join you in urging the swift passage of this
life-saving
legislation.
Sincerely, ACORN:
A Community Resource Network
Lebanon, NH
ACT UP Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA
AIDS Action
Baltimore, Inc.
Baltimore, MD
AIDS Action Committee of
Massachusetts
Boston,
MA
AIDS Action Council
Washington, DC
AIDS
Alabama
Birmingham, AL
AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth
and Families
Washington, DC
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
Chicago, IL
AIDS/HIV Health Alternatives
North Hollywood, CA
AIDS Project Los
Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
AIDS Resource Center of
Wisconsin
Milwaukee, WI
AIDS
Support Network and SLO Hepatitis C Project
San Luis Obispo, CA
AIDS
Taskforce of Greater Cleveland
Cleveland, OH
AIDS Treatment
Data Network
New York, NY
ALERT Health
Miami, FL
American Academy of HIV
Medicine
Washington, DC
American Civil Liberties Union
Washington, DC
American
Health Services
Van Nuys, CA
American Psychological
Association
Washington, DC
American Social
Health Association
Research Triangle, NC
amfAR The Foundation for
AIDS Research
New
York, NY
Arizona Hepatitis C Coalition
Phoenix, AZ
Asian
American Drug Abuse Program, Inc.
Los Angeles, CA
Asian
& Pacific Islander American Health Forum
San Francisco, CA
Association
of Nurses in AIDS Care
Akron, OH
Baart
Programs
Los Angeles, CA
Blue
Mountain Heart to Heart
Walla Walla, WA
California Hepatitis
Alliance
Sacramento, CA
Caring Ambassadors Program,
Inc.
Vancouver, WA
Cascade AIDS Project
Portland, OR
Center Link
Washington, DC
Chicago
Recovery Alliance
Chicago, IL
ColorofChange.org
Oakland, CA
Common Ground
Santa Monica, CA
Community Education Group
Washington, DC
Community Health Action
of Staten Island
New York, NY
Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization
Project
New York, NY
Community HIV/Hepatitis Advocates of
Iowa Network
Des Moines, IA
Community Impact,
Inc.
Yazoo City, MS
Drug
Policy Alliance
New York, NY
Education
for Health Choices
Sacramento, CA
Entre
Hermanos
Seattle, WA
Families & Youth,
Inc.
Las Cruces, NM
Florida GLBT
Democratic Caucus
Ft
Lauderdale, FL
F.O.U.N.D.
Los Angeles, CA
Foundation
for Research on Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Inc.
New York, NY
Gay Men’s Health Crisis
New York, NY
Georgia
AIDS Coalition
Snellville, GA
Global Conference on
Methamphetamine
London, GB
Harlem United
Community AIDS Center, Inc
New York, NY
Harm Reduction Coalition
New York, NY
Harm
Reduction Center of Southern Oregon
Roseburg, OR
Harm Reduction
Institute
Indianapolis, IN
Harm
Reduction Services
Sacramento, CA
Health Global Access
Project
New York, NY
Hep C
Connection
Denver, CO
HepCmeditations Project
Seattle,
WA
Hep Help Alliance of New Jersey,
Inc
Lanoka Harbor, NJ
Hepatitis C Association
Scotch Plains, NJ
Hepatitis Education
Project
Seattle, WA
Hispanic
Federation
New York, NY
HIVictorious,
Inc.
Madison, WI
Homeless
Health Care Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Housing
Works
Washington, DC
Howard Brown Health Center
Chicago, IL
Human Rights
Campaign
Washington, DC
Interfaith
Drug Policy Initiative
Washington, DC
International AIDS
Empowerment
El Paso, TX
International Center for
Advancement of Addiction Treatment
New York, NY
Internet Interventions
Incorporated
Chelsea, MA
JRI
Health
Boston, MA
Justice Policy
Institute
Washington, DC
Latino Commission on
AIDS
New York, NY
Legacy
Community Health Services
Houston, TX
Legal Action
Center
Washington, DC
Lifelong AIDS
Alliance
Seattle, WA
Liver
Health Today
Houston, TX
LiverHope
Minnetonka, MN
Office of Communicable Disease Control and Epidemiology,
Los Angeles Sheriff's Department
Los Angeles, CA
Lower
East Side Harm Reduction Center
New York, NY
Maryland
Hepatitis C Action
Baltimore, MD
Maryland Viral Hepatitis Task
Force
Baltimore, MD
Mendocino
County AIDS Network
Ukiah, CA
Minnesota AIDS
Project
Minneapolis, MN
Missouri Hepatitis C Alliance
Columbia, MO
Monmouth & Ocean
County Hepatitis C Coalition, Inc.
Shrewsbury, NJ
Nashville
CARES
Nashville, TN
National AIDS Fund
Washington, DC
National
Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors
Washington, DC
NAACP: Ft. Lauderdale Branch
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
National
Association of County and City Health Officials
Washington, DC
National
Association of People with AIDS
Silver Spring, MD
National Black Police
Association
Washington, DC
National Center for Transgender
Equality
Washington, DC
National
Council of Jewish Women
Washington, DC
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Action Fund
Washington, DC
National Minority AIDS Council
Washington, DC
National
Stonewall Democrats
Washington, DC
National Viral
Hepatitis Roundtable
Decatur, GA
Needle Exchange Emergency
Distribution
Berkeley, CA
New Mexico Hepatitis C
Alliance
Albuquerque, NM
New
York AIDS Coalition
New York, NY
New York Harm Reduction
Educators, Inc.
Bronx, NY
North American
Syringe Exchange Network
Tacoma, WA
November Coalition
Colville, WA
NYC AIDS Housing Network
Brooklyn, NY
Office of AIDS
Administration
Oakland, CA
Ohio
Inner City Support for Hepatitis C
Cleveland, OH
Okaloosa
AIDS Support and Informational Services, Inc.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Open Society Policy
Center
Washington, DC
Pangaea Global
AIDS Foundation
San Francisco, CA
Peer
Assistance Services, Inc.
Denver, CO
Physicians
for Human Rights
Washington, DC
Pierce
County AIDS Foundation
Tacoma, WA
Planned
Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas, Inc.
Houston, TX
Positive Health Project, Inc.
New York, NY
Portland Overdose Prevention
Project
Portland, OR
Prairie
Psychological Services
Oak Park, IL
PreventionWorks!
Washington, DC
Professional Nursing Alliance
Snellville, GA
Project Inform
San Francisco, CA
Projecto Sol
Filadelphia
Philadelphia, PA
Reality House, Inc.
New York, NY
Recovery Options
Los Angeles, CA
Safer Alternatives
thru Networking & Education
Sacramento, CA
San Francisco AIDS
Foundation
San
Francisco, CA
SISTAHS Today, Inc.
Miami, FL
St. Ann’s Corner of Harm
Reduction
Bronx, New York
Status C
Unknown
New York, NY
Students
for Sensible Drug Policy
Washington, DC
Tarzana
Treatment Center
Lancaster, CA
The AIDS Institute
Washington, DC
The Center for HIV Law and Policy
New York, NY
The
Drop-in Center
Denver,
CO
The Episcopal Church
Washington, DC
Title II Community AIDS
National Network
Washington, DC
Trans
Equality LA
Los Angeles, CA
Transgender
Equality Rights Initiatives
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Treatment Action Group
New
York, NY
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Washington, DC
Upstate New
York Hepatitis C Awareness Project
Delhi, NY
Urban Coalition of HIV/AIDS
Prevention Services
Washington, DC
Vermont Harm Reduction Coalition
Brattleboro, VT
VOCAL-NY Users
Union
Brooklyn, NY
Western Pacific Med/Corp
Glendale, CA
Women
at Risk
Culver City, CA
Women's
HIV Collaborative
New
York, NY
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