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SafeTrade Backyard BBQ

Greene County Public Health’s Communicable Disease/ HIV Prevention and Safe Trade programs will be joining forces with a new series of events to serve one of our most marginalized populations this spring and summer. Monthly “backyard BBQ” style events will be offered through October at our Safe Trade/WIC location in Fairborn one Friday each month. There will be free food, games, HIV, Hep C and Syphilis testing. Other community partners have been invited to come and share information about their services (Greene Cats, Care Source, Hep C Cure Squad, Inclusive Fairborn, and more). The goal of these events is to provide individuals with resources to improve their overall quality of life.
The events are scheduled during Safe Trade hours of 1pm-4pm. Safe Trade is a harm reduction program that provides syringe exchange in an effort to prevent the spread of communicable diseases (HIV/ Hep C/ Syphilis). Safe Trade also provides screening for viral hepatitis and HIV, education about overdose prevention and safer injection practices, abscess and wound care education, and naloxone distribution and education.
The dates for upcoming events are as follows:
• September 29th
• October 27th
All events listed above will take place at Greene County Public Health’s Safe Trade/WIC office located at 25 S. Central Avenue in Fairborn.
Syringe Services Programs (SSP) do not cause or increase illegal drug use, nor do they cause or increase crime rates. When people who inject drugs use an SSP, they are more likely to enter treatment for substance use disorder and stop injecting than those who don’t use an SSP. SSPs reduce infections, as nonsterile injections can lead to transmission of HIV, viral hepatitis, bacterial and fungal infections, and other complications. By providing access to sterile syringes and other injection equipment, SSPs help people prevent transmitting bloodborne and other infections when they inject drugs.
In addition to being at risk for HIV, viral hepatitis, and other blood-borne and sexually transmitted diseases, people who inject drugs can get other serious, life-threatening, and costly health problems, such as infections of the heart valves (endocarditis), serious skin infections, and deep tissue abscesses. Access to sterile injection equipment can help prevent these infections, and health care provided at SSPs can catch these problems early on and provide easy-to-access treatment to a population that may be reluctant to go to a hospital or seek other medical care. Studies show that SSPs also protect the public and first responders by providing safe needle disposal and reducing the presence of needles in the community.
For more information about our Safe Trade program, please call Colton at 937-374-5635; for information about STD/HIV/Hep C testing/screening, please call Samantha at 937-374-5652, or you can email general@gcph.info.
Date:
Fri, August 11, 2023
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Location:
GCPH WIC Office, Fairborn
Openings:
Unlimited