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. 2022 Mar 1:232:109323.
doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109323. Epub 2022 Jan 20.

Harm reduction and health services provided by syringe services programs in 2019 and subsequent impact of COVID-19 on services in 2020

Czarina N Behrends  1 , Xinlin Lu  2 , Grace J Corry  3 , Paul LaKosky  4 , Stephanie M Prohaska  4 , Sara N Glick  5 , Shashi N Kapadia  6 , David C Perlman  7 , Bruce R Schackman  3 , Don C Des Jarlais  2
Affiliations

Harm reduction and health services provided by syringe services programs in 2019 and subsequent impact of COVID-19 on services in 2020

Czarina N Behrends et al. Drug Alcohol Depend. .

Abstract

Objectives: This study describes harm reduction and health services provided by U.S syringe services programs (SSPs) in 2019 and changes in provision of those services in 2020.

Methods: SSPs were invited to participate in the Dave Purchase Memorial survey in August 2020. We collected programmatic data on services provided in 2019 and at the time of the survey in 2020. We conducted descriptive analyses using Chi-square and McNemar's tests.

Results: At the time of the survey, > 60% of SSPs reported increased monthly syringe and naloxone distribution and expansion of home-based and mail-based naloxone delivery in Fall 2020 compared to 2019. Approximately three-quarters of SSPs decreased or stopped providing on-site HIV and HCV testing. Nearly half of SSPs offering on-site medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in 2019 increased provision of MOUD in 2020. The proportion of SSPs offering on-site mental health care services and primary care services statistically significantly decreased from 2019 to Fall 2020, but telehealth offerings of these services increased.

Conclusions: Many SSPs that offered health services in 2019 and remained operational in 2020 increased telehealth provision of mental health and primary care services, increased MOUD provision, and expanded harm reduction services, but most SSPs reduced or stopped on-site HIV and HCV testing. Sustaining SSP growth and innovation is paramount for preventing overdose deaths and HIV/HCV outbreaks after the deadliest year of the opioid epidemic in 2020.

Keywords: COVID-19; HIV; Harm reduction; Hepatitis C; Syringe services programs.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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