With a Congressional funding ban finally lifted, the District of Columbia government announced that it will spend $650,000 of local taxpayers' money to establish needle-exchange programs aimed at cutting HIV/AIDS transmission among drug users, the Washington Post reported Jan. 3.

In its FY2008 budget plan, Congress ended a ban on D.C. using public funds to fund needle exchanges, although a ban on federal funding for the harm-reduction programs remains in place. D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said the clean-needle programs are needed to help reduce the HIV/AIDS rate in the city, which is among the highest in the nation.

"This program goes to best practices to combat one of our greatest health problems," Fenty said. PreventionWorks, which operates a needle exchange program in D.C. using private donations, will receive a $300,000 city grant, while the rest of the money will be used to launch other needle-exchange programs in D.C.

"The cost of infection is immeasurably higher in terms of dollars and lives," said D.C. City Council member David A. Catania.

Prevention Works is already exchanging about 200,000 needles annually in D.C.