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Syringe Service Alliance of the Nashua Area (SSANA)
A syringe services program (SSP) that services the Greater Nashua Region. It is a community-based public health program that provides comprehensive harm reduction services, benefiting its communities served through the reduction of:
- New HIV and viral hepatitis infections by decreasing the sharing of syringes and other injection equipment
- Drug use and increase entry into Substance Use Disorder treatment
- Needlestick injuries among first responders and the public
- Overdose deaths by teaching people who inject drugs (PWID) how to prevent and respond to drug overdose
Click Here: SSANA Mobile Clinic Schedule
Syringe Service Programs (SSPs)
Community-based programs that provide access to sterile needles and syringes free of cost and facilitate safe disposal of used needles and syringes. They provide comprehensive harm reduction services.
What is "Harm Reduction" all About?
Harm reduction is a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use. Harm Reduction is also a movement for social justice built on a belief in, and respect for, the rights of people who use drugs.
Harm reduction incorporates a spectrum of strategies from safer use, to managed use, to abstinence, to better meet drug users “where they’re at” and address conditions of use along with the use itself. Because harm reduction demands that interventions and policies designed to serve drug users reflect specific individual and community needs, there is no universal definition of or formula for implementing harm reduction. – NH Harm Reduction Coalition
Impact of SSPs to the Community and Public Safety
- Reduce Drug Use. People who inject drugs (PWID) are 5 times as likely to enter treatment for substance use disorder and more likely to reduce or stop injecting when they use an SSP.
- Reduce needlestick injuries among first responders by providing proper disposal.
- SSPs do NOT increase local crime in the areas where they are located.
- Reduce overdose deaths by teaching PWID how to prevent and respond to drug overdose. They also learn how to use Naloxone, a medication used to reverse overdose.
- Reduce new HIV and Viral Hepatitis infections by decreasing the sharing of syringes and other injection equipment.
- Save health care dollars by preventing infections. The estimated lifetime cost of treating one person living with HIV is more than $400,000. Testing linked to Hepatitis C treatment can save an estimated 320,000 lives.
SSANA Services and Provided Materials
- Sterile needles, syringes, and injection equipment
- Safe disposal containers for needles and syringes
- HIV and hepatitis testing and linkage to treatment
- Overdose prevention education and how to use Naloxone, a medication used to reverse overdose
- Referral to substance use disorder treatment, including medication-assisted treatment
- Referral to medical, mental health, and social services
- Tools to prevent HIV, STDs, and hepatitis including counseling, condoms, and vaccinations.
Visit our Community Health Page to learn more about the services offered at our Community Health Clinic. - Most importantly - being a friendly face in the community! We hope that we can build relationships within the community
and remind everyone that they matter and we care about them and their health.
Our Team
SSANA is a collection of community partners that have come together to support the Greater Nashua Region. Our diverse team is composed of outreach workers, volunteers, personnel from a variety of public health and medical settings, health educators, and people with lived experience of substance use disorders and recovery.
Education Materials (PDF)
- SSANA Overview
- SSANA Flyer with Tabs
- Safe Sharps Disposal
- Safe Injection Practices
- What to do in the Event of an Overdose / How to Use Naloxone
- Skin Care Guide for People who Inject Drugs
Resources
- Senate Bill 234-FN - Read more about the legalization of Syringe Service Programs in NH
- NH Harm Reduction Coalition
- NH HIV/AIDS Task Force
- Centers for Disease Control
- SSANA program information contact: 978-743-9636