New Hepatitis C cases falling in GF

The Grand Forks syringe service exchange program is being credited in part with helping to reduce new Hepatitis C cases in the region.

New case counts in Grand Forks County have dropped from 70 in 2019 to 31 last year. Since launched four years ago the local program has doled out 110,801 syringes with an 80% return rate. In addition over 3,560 sharps containers have been distributed.

Michael Dulitz with the Grand Forks Health Department says similar results have been seen in other cities that offer similar programs.  “It’s been a really interesting surrogate to look at the presence of injection drug use and the prevalence of risky injection drug use.”

Dulitz says the exchange averages 7.2 visits per participant which when combined with the number of new clients suggests many are successfully reducing or ceasing their substance use.