WASHINGTON — In the omnibus spending bill passed just before Christmas, Congress lifted the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs like the one at the Cabell-Huntington Health Department.

The lift keeps the federal funding ban on syringes themselves, but ends the ban on all other aspects of the programs such as staff, vans and rent.

Activists have hailed the lift as an effective end to the ban, as syringes themselves are cheap to purchase.

The decision was spearheaded by Kentucky Republican U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, House Appropriations chairman, and supported by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., who is on the Appropriations Committee. The move is purportedly in response to the HIV/AIDS outbreak in Indiana and Kentucky and West Virginia's own exchange programs.

Ashley Berrang, a spokesperson for Capito, said Wednesday Huntington's program could and should be used as a model for other cities across the country.

"A spectrum of solutions is needed to combat the drug epidemic and to prevent the related spread of disease," Berrang said.

Originally implemented in the late 1980s, the ban was in response to the theory syringe exchanges increased intravenous drug use and make the spread of disease worse. Such theories have largely been discredited by actual statistics from communities that have syringe exchange programs.

Congressional Democrats briefly lifted the ban in 2009, but Republicans put it back in place in 2011 after they took over the House of Representatives.

Huntington's needle exchange program began in September in response to the overwhelming heroin epidemic. The goal of the program is to stop the spread of hepatitis C - West Virginia has the second highest rate of new hepatitis C cases in the country - and keep users healthy while they wait to enter treatment.

As of last week, the program had served 625 clients, said Dr. Michael Kilkenny, medical director at the health department.

Kilkenny said he had not been alerted to the lift, but had been told by a U.S. senator the ban was being reviewed and would likely be lifted.

He said additional funding from the federal government would be welcome.

"We want as much we can get," Kilkenny said. "We've been able to identify an awful lot of needed services and we need funding to do it."

He said especially for West Virginia, which does not have the funds to support new programs, federal funding would be a great help.

"It's very difficult for the state to support an expanding brand new program during budget cuts," Kilkenny said.

Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, said in a statement Dec. 21 the CDC has historically recommended that states ensure people who inject drugs have access to integrated prevention services from a reliable source, including sterile injection equipment, opioid therapy, and HIV and hepatitis testing.

"Congress's decision makes that job easier," Mermin stated. "Overall, unsafe injection drug use accounts for approximately 8 percent of new HIV infections in the United States, and in recent years it has contributed to a 150 percent increase in acute cases of hepatitis C infections. Because these infections can spread from drug users to others, syringe services programs can help protect whole communities."

Capito will join Kilkenny and Huntington Mayor Steve Williams in Huntington Friday at a roundtable discussion on the region's drug epidemic. They will be joined by local officials, law enforcement, drug treatment providers and advocates to discuss efforts to stem drug abuse and addiction. The event is not open to the public.