Funded until March 31, 1990, NEPP served 295 clients by December 1989. Clients are limited to receiving one sterile needle per visit. In addition to providing needle exchange, NEPP helps place clients in the drug treatment modality they chose. NEPP has not functioned in a politically supportive climate. The climate has been judgmental and moralistic. New Yorkers generally regard NEPP as a failure, since media coverage virtually ended with the report that two addicts enrolled the first day of the program. The modest amount of data available suggests that needle exchange programs are not an end in themselves. Exchanges function as a complement to other AIDS prevention activities. Data suggest that needle exchange is cheap and effective. Given that NEPP is a pilot feasibility study, the director considers the program a success if it yields information useful in planning public policy. In this regard, the program has produced data on client characteristics. 10 references.