\nBut since Mayor Cherelle Parker pulled nearly $1 million from the nonprofit’s syringe exchange program, which now receives no public funding, its has distributed fewer clean syringes and collected fewer used ones than in recent years.<\/p>\n
For the fiscal year 2025-2026, Prevention Point dispensed and collected back 1.7 million syringes. But these figures are way down from previous years.<\/p>\n
In 2016, Prevention Point distributed 2.4 million syringes and collected 2.2 million used syringes. In 2019, the syringe exchange program, fully funded by $1.2 million from the city, distributed just under 3 million needles<\/a>. It dispensed<\/a> roughly three times as many syringes in 2022, at 8.8 million, and collected 10 million used ones \u2013 the first time that Prevention Pointed took back more needles than it gave out. In 2023, it distributed roughly 8 million<\/a> syringes and took back more than 95%<\/a> of that number.<\/p>\n Parker’s administration withheld Prevention Point’s syringe program funds despite outcry from public health leaders and research<\/a> establishing the efficacy<\/a> of needle exchange. A 2019 study<\/a> specifically showed that Prevention Point’s syringe exchange had saved the city millions of dollars in averted HIV cases.<\/p>\n City administrators did not respond the inquiries for this story, but Parker explained the motives for slashing funding during her first budget address in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n“While I’m the mayor, I will fight tooth and nail to ensure that not one city dollar is invested in the distribution of clean needles,” Parker said<\/a>. “It was trailblazing while we did it \u2014 and I still think it’s an important part of the harm-reduction strategy \u2014 but we can’t afford … to appropriate our very scarce resources to do it.”\n<\/p>\n Prevention Point is much more than a syringe exchange, its leaders noted Thursday, but they declined to further comment on its lower syringe distribution and collection numbers.<\/p>\n Prevention Point offers Sublocade, a monthly injection medication for people with opioid use disorder.<\/p>\n \nAccording to its 2025-2025 fiscal report, Prevention Point had:\n<\/p>\n \u2022 7,690 onsite medical visits, a 128% increase over the previous year\n<\/p>\n \n\u2022 2,479 drug treatment visits for 450 patients, providing 1,890 long-acting medication injections for opioid use disorder \u2014 double the prior year\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\u2022 1,773 HIV tests administered, a 14% increase, along with 1,294 PrEP prescriptions provided to 499 patients, a 56% increase, and 951 doses of long-acting injectable PrEP provided through its Sana Clinic<\/a>\u00a0and other sites<\/p>\n \n\u2022 106,113 doses of the opioid overdose reversal medication, Narcan, distributed, along with 2,103 people trained to recognize and reverse overdoses, a 61% increase over the prior year.<\/p>\n \n\u2022 21,056 social services provided by Prevention Point case managers, an 84% increase over the last year, along with 4,145 navigator encounters connecting participants to services<\/p>\n \nFor the past two years, Prevention Point also has collaborated with the city’s health department and two other behavioral health and social services organizations, Project HOME and Warren E. Smith, to run Philly Home at Girard<\/a>. It is a low-barrier safe haven that offers shelter beds and intensive wraparound medical and behavioral health services, as well as case management, for people who have experienced chronic homelessness and also have complex medical conditions, mental health issues or substance use disorders.\n<\/p>\n![\"Prevention](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/091726PreventionPointSublocade_2023_HilaryDisc.width-704.jpg\")
Hilary Disch\/Prevention Point Philadelphia<\/p>\n