Fresno Board of Supervisors boot needle exchange program from County health department

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A arguable needle speech aviator programme is being booted from the Fresno County Health Department Building, aft a ballot by County Supervisors Tuesday morning.

After astir 2 years, the San Joaquin Valley Free Medical Clinic and Needle Exchange volition determination retired of the Fresno County Health Department Building and backmost onto the streets.

The session is unfastened each Saturday greeting to supply cleanable needles to assistance halt the dispersed of diseases.

There are besides aesculapian providers connected tract to dainty cause users' wounds.

The Health Department and leaders of the session said that attraction importantly decreases strain connected section hospitals and exigency rooms and has saved the region $6.3 cardinal past year, and that the determination allows them to easy nonstop radical to different resources.

"We went earlier from earlier conscionable treating a diligent implicit and implicit again for infections and saying to them doesn't it look similar you should beryllium successful treatment," said Dr. Marc Lasher, President of San Joaquin Valley Free Medical Clinic & Needle Exchange. "Now we supply this work precise overmuch up front."

The session and resources are funded with wealth the authorities received from settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors.

However, the region does screen utilities and immoderate staff, specified arsenic security, that outgo the region astir $90,000 past year.

Supervisor Garry Bredefeld voted successful favour of ending the aviator program.

He had fought against moving the session to the wellness section backmost successful September 2023, erstwhile helium was connected the metropolis council.

"This full needle speech programme is wholly destructive," said Bredefeld. "It shouldn't beryllium successful our community. Unfortunately, the authorities allows it, but the region had nary concern being involved. I cognize determination are radical that deliberation this is simply a bully programme to manus retired ace pipes and needles to cause addicts, it's wholly stupid."

The CDC said decades of probe amusement these programs are safe, effective, and cost-saving and bash not summation amerciable cause usage oregon crime.

Supervisor Luis Chavez voted successful favour of keeping the clinic.

"You can't unit idiosyncratic into a rehabilitation programme oregon thing of that sort, but this, I think, opened the doorway for folks to travel successful and person that conversation," said Luis Chavez, Fresno County Supervisor. "And present that we don't person it, I'm truly acrophobic astir those folks that would travel successful due to the fact that I deliberation their occurrence complaint was expanding arsenic the programme was getting known more."

Because authorities instrumentality requires the region to let Syringe Service Programs to operate, Chavez said, present the session tin popular up anyplace successful the county.

Ultimately, the committee voted 3 to 2 to extremity the aviator program, meaning the session volition person to relocate from the wellness section wrong the adjacent 30 days.

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