At the Fifth Annual Hepatitis C Summit last week in Los Angeles, DPA raised awareness of the Disease Prevention Demonstration Project (DPDP), a program allowing over-the-counter syringe sales in registered pharmacies in Los Angeles County (and several other counties around the state).

The DPDP was created by statewide legislation in 2004, and DPA supports implementation of the program in Los Angeles County.

Access to sterile syringes reduces the spread of blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C among injection drug users, including those who inject intoxicants, as well as those with diabetes who inject insulin or those with hepatitis C who inject Interferon. When people use sterile syringes to inject, they not only protect themselves, but also their sexual partners and children. Right now, approximately 250 Los Angeles pharmacies are enrolled, or are in the process of enrolling, in the program, including two large pharmacy chains.

Meghan Ralston, DPA's harm reduction coordinator, and pharmacist Terry Hair presented on the program to a full room at the summit. A significant portion of the audience was people who work with injection drug users, some of whom later asked Ralston to present on the program at their facilities. Several audience members also said they would encourage their own pharmacies to enroll.

DPA staff also met with attendees one-on-one throughout the summit, educating more than 200 people about pharmacy syringe sales, handing out hundreds of educational pamphlets, and formally announcing the program's brand new hotline (1 866 96 4 No Rx).

The event received media attention from such diverse sources as the local NBC affiliate, Univision, Chinese Daily News and a local Korean-language paper.

The Hepatitis C Task Force hosts the summit every year, but this was the first summit to include formal discussion of reliable syringe access for injection drug users. Raising awareness of the DPDP and how it could impact hepatitis C transmission was an important step for disease prevention in Los Angeles.