CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Nearly three years into its own harm reduction program, an official with the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department says his community is not seeing the kinds pushback on the effort that includes needle exchanges like his counterparts in Charleston.
“The issues that are in Charleston are unique,” said Howard Gamble, administrator for the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department.
“There isn’t a way to say, ‘This is the failure. This is why they’re seeing that and why we’re not.'”
Earlier this week, members of Charleston’s City Council tabled a measure Charleston Mayor Danny Jones had proposed that would have eliminated the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department’s harm reduction program by again criminalizing needle possession.
Those on a task force will study the issue ahead of a scheduled May vote.
Charleston police officers and first responders have supported the elimination with arguments about the dangers improperly disposed of needles pose to those emergency officials and community members along with the draw such free needles can be.
Advocates for the effort have said the needle exchanges stop the spread of infectious diseases through intravenous drug use, including HIV and hepatitis.
Since 2015, needle distribution numbers in Charleston have totaled 651,000 and roughly 415,810 have been returned to the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, according to records. The rate for patients who come back regularly is higher, health officials noted.
An individual can get 30 needles each week in Kanawha County.
In Wheeling, the harm reduction program is a weekly one-for-one exchange for up to 20 needles at three different locations including a Friday clinic location off-site from the health department itself at Northwood Health Systems.
“We do see a lot of needles in the community. We pick them up. We’re called out to collect them. We collect them from law enforcement on a regular basis,” Gamble said.
“They’re always going to be out there and they always have been out there. We’re just trying to provide a service right now — a limited service — to prevent disease.”
Serving an average of 275 people by Friday of each week, the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department’s harm reduction program is smaller than those run in Charleston and through the Cabell-Huntington Health Department which are the largest in West Virginia.
In response to questions from MetroNews, the Cabell-Huntington Health Department provided the following joint statement with the City of Huntington and Cabell County EMS:
“The comprehensive plans that our community put in place three years ago to address this nationwide epidemic are beginning to show positive trends. It is a multifaceted issue, and the Harm Reduction Program administered by the Cabell-Huntington Health Department addresses both the prevention of communicable disease as well as leading individuals into recovery.”
Huntington, Charleston and Wheeling are three of more than a dozen county and city areas in West Virginia with harm reduction and naloxone training programs.
Additions are pending in other communities.
On Tuesday, Raleigh County Commission President Dave Tolliver told the Beckley Register-Herald the issues in Charleston have raised questions for him about the needle exchange program that’s in the works through the Beckley-Raleigh County Health Department.
In the time since the launch in Ohio County, Gamble said upwards of 15,000 needles have been distributed while many, many more have been collected.
“It is a disease prevention program,” Gamble said of the effort that has grown over the years in his county.
“It’s unfortunate the issues that have arisen in Charleston but, hopefully, with what occurred, they can come together and sit down and talk about it and people can understand exactly what we’re doing in public health to prevent a disease.”