In January, Congress lifted a decades-long ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs and clinics. Since then, the number of programs has skyrocketed, driven in large part by the opioid epidemic. Programs have popped up in states that might never have considered them -- or might even have actively opposed them -- only 10 years ago. “Kentucky has gone from zero to 11 programs,” says Daniel Raymond, policy director at the Harm Reduction Coalition. “Florida authorized a program in Miami -- and we thought they would never have one.”

The goal of needle exchanges, in which drug users hand in their used syringes for new sterile ones, is to reduce the number of infections from diseases like HIV and hepatitis -- illnesses that are transmitted through the sharing of contaminated needles.

Needle exchanges, long credited with helping to slow the spread of infectious diseases by public health experts, have made inroads in recent years, even in states traditionally opposed to them.

A ban in federal funding for needle exchanges was lifted earlier this year. States including Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia have made it easier, or in some cases possible for the first time, for programs to operate. Even Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who resisted needle exchanges on moral grounds, repealed a ban on syringe exchanges as governor of Indiana when confronted with an HIV outbreak (albeit too slowly for many experts).

New data released by federal health officials Tuesday further demonstrated the value of needle exchanges, suggesting they had contributed to a major reduction in new HIV infections among people who inject drugs.

But the report also included some warnings. There aren’t enough needle exchanges or clean needles being supplied, and few drug users use only sterile syringes, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. Plus, changes in the demography and geography of drug users suggest problems to come.

The health care industry is abuzz over Donald Trump's picks of Tom Price for HHS Secretary and Seema Verma for CMS administrator. But first: The vote on 21st Century Cures is finally here.

CURES HITS THE FLOOR TODAY, AND BIPARTISAN BACKERS WANT THE HOUSE TO PASS IT — That includes industry players like Intel, Republican leaders like Sen. Lamar Alexander — and the Obama administration, too.

...

— Meanwhile, 11 city health leaders petition Price to invest in public health. "The Republican Party Platform proposes reducing costs by converting Medicaid into block grants," write the letter-signers, which include Baltimore health commissioner Leana Wen and New York City health commissioner Mary Bassett. "This concerns us, as it risks depriving our most vulnerable residents of access to healthcare and adversely affecting health outcomes." Read the letter.