The Illinois Department of Public Health reports 35 confirmed cases of Hepatitis A in the month of January, which are part of a recent Hep A outbreak concentrated in the Midwest. Three of those cases were in Champaign county. The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District is working to reduce the risk of Hepatitis A, HIV and other infections among people who use illicit drugs by offering clean syringes, harm reduction counseling and vaccinations.

Since the global HIV/AIDS epidemic reached its peak in the late 1990s, advancements in medicine and outreach have increased chances of survival and lowered the transmission rate of the virus around the world. But in countries like Uganda, where the prevalence rate is 6.5 percent, there’s still a lot of work to be done – especially in the high-risk communities that encircle Lake Victoria.

Buprenorphine is one of just three federally approved medications to treat opioid addiction. It’s possible to misuse it because it’s an opioid itself — people snort or inject the medication to get high. And patients with prescriptions can sell or give it away, which is known as diversion. But addiction treatment professionals argue the problem of buprenorphine diversion is often misunderstood. The black market exists, in part, because addiction treatment can be hard to find, and the availability of the drug on the street can be helpful, they say.

Syringe exchange programs are one of the most visible forms of harm reduction — an approach that strives to minimize drug use’s negative effects rather than punish people for using. But the philosophy isn’t without its critics, and an Indiana law means advocates need to debate harm reduction’s merits every year.

The Affordable Care Act did a lot to expand HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention for people at highest risk for the disease. But if the Republican Obamacare replacement bill becomes law, much of this progress could be reversed, according to epidemiologist Greg Millett.