Indiana county that includes Fort Wayne OKs needle exchange

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) – Commissioners in the Indiana county that’s home to the state’s second-largest city have approved a plan for a needle exchange to combat the spread of hepatitis C and HIV among drug users.

The proposal approved Monday in Fort Wayne by the Allen County commissioners now heads to the state health commissioner, who has final authorization on needle exchange requests under Indiana law.

Such programs provide clean syringes to intravenous drug users to prevent needle-sharing that spreads hepatitis C, HIV and other diseases. Fayette, Madison, Monroe and Scott counties are the only Indiana counties with state approval to date to operate exchanges.

The Journal Gazette reports Allen County’s sheriff and prosecutor had opposed county health officials’ plan not to require needle-exchange participants to be tested for blood-borne diseases.