dr. hanson tukes has been fighting to get a needle exchange program set up in miami-dade county. >> we have absence of any intervention to prevent disease. the highest rate of hiv in the country, one in every five people in miami-dade have hiv. if they don't have clean syringes they're going to spread it to each other. >> reduced rates of hiv in injection drug users by 30% or more. but tukes says it's not just hiv, other infections can result in devastating illness. >> it's easy to have skin or soft tissue infections, the infections can progress, enter the bone, bloodstream and heart. those are the sorts of patients that die. >> a study tracking injection drug users at jackson memorial hospital found these new hampshirinjectionsin one year a. >> that is not right, it is not right anywhere, it's not right in the united states, it's not right in miami. >> and it's not cheap either. life you time health care for hiv can average $600,000 a patient, $300,000 for hepatitis c. >> they get picked up by an ambulance, taken oa hospital, these people are not pulling out their insurance card and paying