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Science Series: What’s the Point? Harm Reduction through Syringe Exchange in White River Junction and Springfield, VT, by Laura Byrne
September 27, 2018 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Syringe exchange programs are more than just a place to trade in used needles for new ones. These programs offer a variety of services such as HIV and Hepatitis C testing, naloxone and referrals to substance misuse treatment and other services. This talk will examine and compare two syringe exchange programs run by the HIV/HCV Resource Center, one at the Good Neighbor Heath Clinic and the other at Springfield Health Center. The talk will focus on client demographics, risk behaviors, drug use, Hepatitis C transmission and prevalence and the role of stigma as an impediment to accessing services.
Laura Byrne is Executive Director of the HIV/HCV Resource Center, an AIDS Service Organization located in Lebanon, NH. She has administered the agency’s White River Junction syringe exchange program since 2010 and the Springfield program since 2017. With degrees from Colby College (BA) and Boston University (MA), she is an anthropologist by training and has also lived and studied abroad. In addition to promoting increased access to services and harm reduction for injection drug users, she is interested in relationships between gender, identity, society and culture.
Check out our Science Series page for more information and to view past presentations.