THE HEALTH OF PEOPLE WHO INJECT DRUGS EVERY YEAR

Every year, EJAF grants help more than 30,000 people access clean syringes and related harm-reduction services, proven interventions that prevent new HIV infections. Thanks in part to our efforts, HIV infections due to injection drug use in the U.S. are down from 25% of all infections in 2000 to only 11% today. However, this “good news” still means that approximately 5,500 people become infected each year via injection drug use. These 5,500 infections are entirely preventable, and therefore entirely unacceptable. The potential is clear: scaled-up programming could bring injection-related HIV infections down to zero. That’s why EJAF invests $1 million each year to support syringe exchange programs across the U.S. and advocate for removing the ban on the use of federal funding for syringe exchange.

5,500 people who inject drugs become infected with HIV.