City-county council to discuss needle exchange program future
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – More information is expected to come out on Monday about the future of a needle exchange program in Marion County.
The proposed program is comes after county health officials announced last week that there has been a surge in hepatitis C cases.
The Marion County Health Department said there has been a 1,000 percent increase in cases from 2013 to 2017. Most years they see less than five reported cases but last year they saw 72 cases.
Hepatitis C is a liver infection caused by a virus and is often spread by the sharing of needles.
“We find that with a lot of education, people are not throwing away their needles on the ground where someone can be at risk for trying to pick it up,” said Marion County Public Health Department Director, Dr. Virginia Caine.
Last week City-County Council President Vop Osili said the council does have
enough votes to approve the program.
The council is expected to discuss the potential program in their meeting on Monday at 7 p.m.