David Purchase, founder of the first program in the United States to exchange dirty needles for clean ones, has died, The News Tribune reports. He was 73. Purchase founded the Washington state program in 1988, which is now run by the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. He testified before Congress to advocate for needle exchange programs, which have now been endorsed by public health officials worldwide. He also founded the North American Syringe Exchange and the Point Defiance AIDS Project.

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