Vance County has among the highest rates of unintentional overdose deaths in North Carolina with a rate of 13.4 per 100,000 individuals as compared to 12.2 for the state from 2012-2016. Vance County is also among the top 10 in the state for opioid overdose emergency department visits.

description

Granville Vance District Health Department partners with North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition (NCHRC) to implement a mobile and peer-based Syringe Services Program (SSP) in Vance County. The Vance SSP engages people who use drugs in Vance County and surrounding rural counties by providing tools, resources, and education to improve their health and well-being. We support participants in reducing their risk of overdose, increasing their chances of surviving an overdose, reducing their risk of HCV/HIV and other infections, and improving their access to treatment and other services. The SSP has grown ten-fold since its inception in 2016 from serving 39 participants in the first year to serving 341 participants last year. Program staff have developed strong relationships, mutual respect, and a sense of community with participants.

lessons

Leadership from SSP staff who are both directly impacted by drug use and embedded in local culture has allowed us to be flexible, responsive, and creative as we implement and scale up the program. Additionally, a strong, meaningful, and innovative partnership between a community-based harm reduction organization and a local health department has been essential for community buy-in. The leadership provided by NCHRC has been necessary to create buy-in among people who use drugs while the leadership from the health department has been critical in creating buy-in from local leaders, treatment providers, and law enforcement.

recommendations

Effective syringe services programs in rural communities both engage people with lived experience in planning and implementation and leverage innovative partnerships to sustainably fund and support the program.