State health official outlines syringe services funding, reissues RFP after low response

Deputy Commissioner Kelly Doherty of the Vermont Department of Health told the House Oversight and Accountability Committee that the department is supporting syringe services programs and related disposal efforts and has reissued a request for proposals after a low-scoring application for Opioid Abatement funding.

Doherty briefed committee members on the role of organized community-based needle exchange programs, commonly called syringe services programs or SSPs, saying, "they're community based prevention programs, that provide people who use drugs or have a substance use disorder with a range of services, such as, clean use supplies for, like injection equipment, you know, syringes." She told members SSPs also distribute naloxone, offer overdose recognition information, provide links to treatment and other medical services, and operate sharps collection as part of their grant operating requirements.

The update connected program activity to Act 22 of 2023, which appropriated two separate pools of funding: $150,000 from the Evidence Based…