There has been quite a prevalence of HIV within the city of San Antonio. Metro Health revealed that in 2017, 6,000 people were living with HIV in Bexar County. The last five years alone have seen an increase in HIV rates, specifically in gay and bisexual men. In fact, San Antonio was named as one of the biggest ‘hot spots’ in the United States for new HIV infections, as reported by Metro Health. Out of the 16 ‘hot spots’ in the state of Texas, San Antonio is home to six of them. A hot spot is indicative if a cluster of cases where the transmitted virus among infected individuals is of a genetically identical strain.

- The largest percentage, 52.4%, of people living in HIV are 45 years of age or older.
- 85% of individuals living with the virus in the Bexar County limits are men and 15% are women.
- The ethnic statistics of HIV rates in Bexar County show that 63% are Hispanic, 19% are white, 16% are black, and 2% are a mix of other ethnicities.
- The age statistics of HIV rates in Bexar County show that 52% are individuals who are 45 years of age or older, 47% are 20-44 years old, and 1% consists of individuals who are 19 years of age or younger.
- Metro Health has reported that 86% of people with HIV in Bexar County have been diagnosed, 72% are being treated, and 85% are being treated for HIV that have undetectable viral loads.

A study conducted by Lynn Wenger, MSW, MPH and colleagues in 2008 surveyed people who inject drugs in San Francisco about syringe disposal, and looked for discarded syringes in selected neighborhoods around the city.
A total of 602 people who inject drugs were included in the quantitative study that asked about disposal practices. Eighty percent of syringes used in the previous 30 days were reported as disposed of at a needle access program. Thirteen percent (8,425 out of 66,409) were reported as improperly disposed of (e.g., placed in the trash, flushed down the toilet). The remaining 7% of syringes were disposed of at hospitals/clinics, pharmacies, or other places with disposal boxes.
Importantly, people who accessed syringes from unauthorized sources—in other words, sources other than needle exchanges or access programs—were more likely to dispose of syringes improperly. When community members have proper access to syringes, they dispose of them properly.

Source: https://www.sfaf.org/collections/beta/syringe-access-programs-increase-safe-syringe-disposal/