No condoms at NKY needle exchanges, says Catholic health system St. Elizabeth

Needles will be available. Condoms won't.

That's the plan for two anticipated needle exchanges in Northern Kentucky, despite the tradition of giving away condoms at needle exchanges to help fight infectious diseases.

Why? Because the Roman Catholic Church doesn't approve of condom use. And the exchanges will be located in St. Elizabeth Healthcare parking lots.

The rule is astonishing to Dr. Judith Feinberg, who headed up the first Greater Cincinnati needle exchange in 2014.

"The whole point is to prevent disease, and the condoms are part of preventing disease," said Feinberg, now a professor at the West Virginia School of Medicine.

It's not about contraception, Feinberg said. It's about doing anything possible to keep people healthy and safe.

"This is human life we're talking about," she said.

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supports proper condom use to prevent the spread of HIV, hepatitis C and other sexually transmitted diseases. HIV surged among people who inject drugs in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky in 2017.

As of March 16, the Northern Kentucky Health Department had diagnosed 45 cases of HIV since Jan. 1, 2017. Of those, 21 people indicated that injection drug use was one of their risk factors for infection, said Emily Gresham-Wherle, a spokeswoman for the health department. From 2009 to 2016, zero to five such cases were reported each year.

More: What is HIV and how did it surge in NKY?

Needle exchanges offer sterile drug-injection equipment in exchange for used equipment. The idea is to provide disease-free equipment and to help keep streets, parks and parking lots free of contaminated, tossed needles and to keep injection drug users safer.

Usually, needle exchanges provide condoms, too.

In Northern Kentucky, public health leaders have been trying since 2015 to get elected officials to approve their Syringe Access Exchange Program. That's when the state made needle exchange an option. In February, Newport City Commission agreed to host an exchange, and that triggered Covington's approval of hosting the second one.

As a way to get the ball rolling, St. Elizabeth agreed to provide its Covington hospital parking lot and the lot at its St. E Urgent Care in Newport for the exchanges. But without condom giveaways.

The way St. Elizabeth looks at it, the hospital property is under Catholic Church teachings.The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services states that "Catholic health institutions may not promote or condone contraceptive practices." Condoms are contraceptives, so their use is against the church's beliefs.

The needle exchange might be best off on health department grounds, said St. Elizabeth spokesman Guy Karrick, but the hospital offered its parking lot to get the program going as quickly as possible.

“St. Elizabeth Healthcare is dedicated to caring for our patients’ medical needs without compromise of the Catholic Church’s teachings concerning birth control," Karrick wrote in a statement to The Enquirer. "... We are going above and beyond for our community to get a program in place as quickly as possible."

Dr. Lynne Saddler, district director of the Northern Kentucky Health Department, said she's grateful St. Elizabeth has offered the partnership. She did not comment directly about the availability of condoms at the sites.

The national Harm Reduction Coalition of New York City was positive about St. Elizabeth Healthcare system's leadership in providing the locations for the needle exchanges but crossed its fingers that St. Elizabeth officials will relax its condom rules to further reduce the spread of HIV.

"We applaud St. Elizabeth Healthcare for their leadership to advance the work of justice and public health by providing space for the Syringe Access Exchange Programs," said Erica Poellet, director of faith and community partnerships for the coalition. She added, "We hope … they will also take leadership to support the human right to health and dignity and expand access to the full repertoire of life-affirming health care, including condoms, as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention strategy for a particularly vulnerable population."

It's not the same at all Catholic hospitals. Mercy Health Clermont hosts the Exchange Project in the parking lot of the Batavia hospital. Condoms, as well as injection equipment and other health services, are available there.

The needle exchange at Mercy is run by a Hamilton County Public Health team. No hospital employees work at the exchange, so the hospital is taking a hands-off approach.

HOW TO GET CONDOMS IN NKY

Condoms are available at all Northern Kentucky Health Department clinics.