As someone who injects medicine each week, Microbiology senior August Steinkamp knows the importance of needle safety.
“I’ve had to reuse syringes before,” Steinkamp said. “It’s nerve racking.”
That’s why Steinkamp has used his time as co-chair of the campus’ PrEP club, Be PrEPared, to advocate for establishing a syringe service program at the university. While the idea hasn’t caught traction so far, Steinkamp hopes to use his last year as co-chair to implement a system for students to access clean syringes and other materials they might need to safely inject medication or narcotics.
“I’ve volunteered with the LGBT Center in New Orleans, and the success that that needle exchange program had really showed,” he said
PrEP, the medication regimen Steinkamp’s club promotes, is an oral or injected method for reducing the risk of contracting HIV. Before Steinkamp was involved, the club helped the university get access to free rapid HIV tests at the Student Health Center. He said the group is focused on advocacy and reducing stigma around the disease.
“The more you grant access to these things, you’re not only helping the community, you’re also reducing stigma and educating people,” Steinkamp said.
Because intravenous drug use is the second leading cause of HIV, Steinkamp thinks that it is essential to ensure students who need them can access clean needles.
Gjvar Payne is the director of the Capitol Area Reentry Program, which runs the main needle exchange program in Baton Rouge. He said needle exchanges aren’t about promoting drug use—they’re about harm reduction, and meeting people where they’re at.
“We don’t want people dying from something we could’ve prevented,” Payne said. “We all know that people aren’t going to stop injecting drugs because they can’t get sterile equipment.”
Steinkamp first approached the Student Health Center about starting a needle exchange program in 2021. He said that the center told him that they weren’t interested in starting a syringe service because most cases of HIV on campus were caused by high-risk sexual behavior, not drug use.
Michael Eberhard, director of the Student Health Center’s Office of Wellness and Health Promotion, said that the university doesn’t collect data on how HIV-positive students contracted the virus.
“I find it troubling that the program was shut down due to lack of need if we have no way of understanding the need,” Steinkamp said. “This puts doubts in my mind about the effort being put in by the center to truly protect student’s health.”
The Student Health Center has changed management since Steinkamp last made his request. Julie Hupperich, the center’s executive director, said she’d be open to discussing the program with Be PrEPared now, and she’s not sure exactly why the idea was initially rejected.
“There are circumstances when the Student Health Center decides to partner with community agencies and to make referrals rather than duplicating services,” Hupperich said.
The SHC administers more than a thousand HIV tests each year. Just a small number of those tests come back positive.
Hupperich said that the Student Health Center administers most of those, but sends about 100 to another lab.
“There are typically one to three new positive cases each year,” Hupperich said.
Steinkamp said that it’s important to remember that access to sterile syringes isn’t just about HIV or drug use.
“This is also a matter of things like hepatitis,” Steinkamp said. “Students that have diabetes and use insulin and students that take hormones use needles. I felt that part of it was ignored.”
Steinkamp said he doesn’t hold the rejection against the SHC, and he hopes to work with them on this in the current year.
“I don’t think the Student Health Center is intentionally limiting access to these resources,” Steinkamp said. “I believe that with a little more communication, this is something they’d be willing to do.”