"Health & Medical News"

Discarded needles on city streets and vacant lots have neighbors of a Philadelphia needle-exchange program in an uproar, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Oct. 30.

The? Prevention Point program is the target of criticism from residents of the Kensington neighborhood, who blame weekly visits by a needle-exchange van to East Tuscalum Street for the dangerous debris. “The kids used to play football in the grass,” said resident Ellen Maenner. “They can’t anymore because of the needles. And you can’t see them all the time in the grass.”

Prevention Point board chair Roseanne Scotti said the needle-exchange program was not at fault, noting that Kensington is home to many drug users, with East Tuscalum the program’s busiest location in the city. However, she also said Prevention Point was working on a cleanup plan with city officials.

Scotti said that up to 95 percent of the needles exchanged by Prevention Point are returned to the program, which is designed to prevent the spread of disease through shared needles. But with about one million needles distributed annually, that still means tens of thousands of needles that are not being disposed of properly.

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