U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) on March 20 introduced bipartisan legislation that would direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to spearhead an initiative aimed at ending the rising incidences of HIV, hepatitis C and other infectious diseases related to intravenous drug use.
“We must do more to stop the spread of infectious diseases that stem from the opioid crisis,” said Rep. Lance, a member of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health. “This is not just about helping those with addiction. Families and children are being exposed to terrible infections at an alarming rate.”
In addition to establishing “an injection drug use-associated infection elimination initiative,” the Eliminating Opioid-Related Infectious Diseases Act of 2018, H.R. 5353, would require the CDC to work with states to improve education, surveillance and treatment of infections associated with injection drug-use, according to a summary provided by Rep. Lance’s staff. Blood-borne infections, particularly human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis, are commonly and easily transmitted via intravenous drug use.
In the United States, the CDC reports that roughly 50 percent of new hepatitis C virus (HCV) cases, 7 percent of new HIV cases, and 2 percent of hepatitis A cases are associated with the illicit injection of drugs. And in addition to the continuing loss of lives around the country, the White House Council of Economic Advisers recently estimated the associated costs of the opioid crisis thus far total more than $500 billion.
The CDC must implement a plan now “to turn this tide and combat the public health consequences of these deadly trends,” Rep. Lance said. “Those who have fallen victim to addiction must be able to reclaim their lives. Stopping the spread of deadly infections is one less hurdle to overcome,” he added.
U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III (D-MA), the lead original cosponsor of H.R. 5353, pointed out that infectious diseases make each person’s lifelong path toward recovery from a substance use disorder much more difficult.
“In our efforts to confront an opioid epidemic that has touched every American community, we must invest in proven strategies that prevent cases of HIV, hepatitis C and similar infections,” Rep. Kennedy said. “With Congressman Lance and the bipartisan support of our colleagues, I know we can treat this epidemic as the public health crisis that it is and ensure the CDC has the resources to respond.”
H.R. 5353 received support from Dr. Michael E. Kilkenny, physician director of the Cabell-Huntington Health Department in Huntington, West Va., who testified on March 22 during the second of a two-day hearing on solutions to end the opioid crisis held by the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee.
Kilkenny, who told subcommittee members he was representing local health departments as a member of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), testified that H.R. 5353 “is a necessary step in reducing the rate of infectious disease outbreaks and would provide CDC with an additional $40 million a year for surveillance activities, helping local health departments to prevent an outbreak before it occurs.”
On behalf of NACCHO, the doctor suggested to lawmakers that H.R. 5353 be expanded to include the surveillance of the hepatitis B virus (HBV), HCV and HIV. Kilkenny said increases in injection drug use stemming from the opioid epidemic present new challenges, particularly in rural and suburban communities. He cited a recent CDC study that reported from 2004 to 2014, “admissions to drug treatment programs for patients who injected opioids increased by 93 percent, while acute HCV infections rose in parallel by 133 percent.”
“This problem can only be solved by support for local efforts to address both opioid misuse and overdose and associated infectious diseases,” Kilkenny testified.
By expanding Rep. Lance’s bill to include a CDC surveillance program that includes HIV, HBV and HCV, the program would be positioned to “help identify where new incidences of infection are occurring fastest, and accordingly target areas to help reduce the greatest burden of infection and support prevention programs to include vaccination against HBV, which is approximately 100 times more infectious than HIV,” Kilkenny said.