PHOENIX -- Health-care advocates say Arizona's new needle exchange law could not only save millions of dollars in health care but also slow the spread of HIV and opioid overdoses.

The measure was passed by the Arizona Legislature and sent to Gov. Doug Ducey's desk this week. He is expected to sign the bill, which will for the first time in Arizona allow the exchange of used syringes for clean ones.

Haley Coles, executive director of Sonoran Prevention Works, said once you get an addict to come in for new needles, it opens the door for other ways to help them.

"That's where we can give our tools like Naloxone, the overdose-reversal medication, fentanyl test strips," Coles explained. "We can make referrals to treatment. This is a major way to intervene in the overdose crisis, the HIV crisis and the hepatitis B crisis."

Coles noted her group worked both sides of the aisle to convince opponents that previous anti-drug programs have failed to stem the rising tide of addiction among Arizonans. A companion bill allows distribution of kits to test street drugs for potentially deadly doses of fentanyl.

She pointed out the bill avoids spelling out any specific way to operate a needle exchange program.

"The genius of this bill is it recognizes that cities and counties and communities across Arizona are all very unique," Coles remarked. "It could happen at a treatment center. It could happen at a church. It allows communities to determine what works best for them."

Coles added despite evidence that needle-exchange programs have a positive impact on the lives of addicts, the main concern expressed by lawmakers was, "Won't it just encourage more drug use?"

"This is an argument that we've heard over and over, and all of the evidence, all of the research that's been done on these programs has never shown an increase in drug use," Coles reported. "In fact, it has shown decreases in drug use and decreases in injection drug use."

An Arizona Public Health Association study showed overdose deaths in Arizona have increased steadily over the past two decades across all categories of race, ethnicity and gender. It also found numerous anti-drug policies have failed to slow the rate of drug-related deaths.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Today marks World AIDS Day, observed internationally to remember those lost to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and raise awareness about the disease.

In one of Ohio's most populous counties, health professionals are working to ensure people living with HIV have the services they need. Cuyahoga County's "Ryan White HIV/AIDS Part A" program has provided health services to those who do not have adequate insurance or financial resources since 1996.

Zach Levar, grant supervisor for the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, said one silver lining of the pandemic was learning how providers could reach more people through telemedicine.

"Clients that may not have wanted care in person might have found it a little bit more convenient to FaceTime with their doctor and check in with them that way," Levar explained. "Our clients have definitely appreciated it, we've heard anecdotally that different clients that may have been out of care are now linked to care because they've been able to access via telehealth."

Twenty-one percent of Ohioans who have been diagnosed with HIV live in Cuyahoga County, according to state data.

Levar said in honor of World AIDS Day, the county Board of Health has launched its first newsletter dedicated to HIV-related news and resources. It also plans to launch a social media campaign to help fight the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.

Services the Ryan White program provides in the Greater Cleveland area include help applying for housing and benefits support, mental health resources, and group education for people recently diagnosed. Levar said the Board of Health has received two grants focused on HIV care and prevention, to help connect with at-risk residents.

"We've started working with the state to figure out who is not in care and trying to figure out ways to best reach those individuals," Levar outlined. "Figure out what their barriers are, really meet them where they are, and get them engaged in care, so that they can achieve the best health outcomes for themselves."

The two grants, totaling about $2 million, were awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

LANSING, Mich. - Organizers of a summit about sexual health will provide a safe space on Friday for young Michiganders to have open, honest and affirming conversations about HIV prevention and care.

More than 15,000 Michigan residents live with HIV, and the stigma associated with it often keeps people from getting tested and knowing their status.

Natasha Thomas, Genesee County program coordinator for the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health, said it's important that young people are able to talk about HIV and sexual health.

"HIV is something that we should be aware of, it's something that we should be educated about, but it's not necessarily something that we should fear," she said. "It's not something that we should stigmatize."

She said the "HIV and You(th) Summit" is geared toward folks ages 13 to 24 and adults who work with youths. It will feature workshops on knowing your own medical rights, what it means to live with HIV, medications for prevention and care - such sa PrEP and PEP - and laws and history surrounding HIV and the LGBTQ community.

Thomas added that it's also important that conversations about prevention and care debunk myths about HIV and how it is transmitted. She said there are few spaces where young people can go to get up-to-date, medically accurate information about sexual health.

"A lot of young people then turn to their peers, or they turn to the internet," she said, "where they then have to kind of weed through all of this information - some of it accurate, some of it not."

Thomas said she hopes attendees will leave the summit with resources and services they can look to, on an ongoing basis. Health experts urge people who are sexually active to learn their HIV status through regular testing at a clinic, hospital or community health center.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A bill that went into effect over the weekend makes the first reforms to Missouri's HIV criminalization laws since they were passed in the 1980s.

Among other measures related to prosecutors and police, the bill requires prosecutors to prove someone knowingly exposed someone else who contracted HIV before getting a felony conviction, and reduces the minimum sentence from 10 to three years.

Rico Bush, communications director at Empower Missouri, said research shows HIV criminalization laws do not reduce the spread of HIV, but they do increase stigma and discourage people from getting tested - if they worry knowing their status could leave them vulnerable to conviction.

"It actually was deterring from people getting tested and actually knowing their true status," said Bush. "And then once you know your status, then you can get the help that's needed. We really want people to be educated about how HIV is passed, and also to get rid of the stigma surrounding HIV."

Bush said while there's more to be done, these reforms are an important step. He added that Empower Missouri and other advocates for reducing the stigma around HIV are working to educate people about medications they can take to curb the spread.

More than 13,000 Missourians currently live with HIV. Bush added there also are disparities in enforcement of criminalization laws.

"Since 1990, we know that more than 100 people in Missouri have been convicted of, you know, an HIV crime," said Bush. "And Black men account for half of HIV crime arrests and convictions in the state, of course, this despite being only 5.5% of the state population."

A bill introduced in Congress would incentivize states to eliminate their HIV criminalization laws, the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act.

Earlier this year, Missouri became the third state to allow pharmacists to dispense HIV medication, like PrEP and PEP, without a prescription from a doctor.