An advocacy group is praising the District of Columbia for supporting needle exchanges in an effort to reduce the spread of AIDS.

The D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice on Wednesday released its fourth report card since 2005 on efforts to slow Washington's AIDS epidemic.

The city was graded in eleven areas and received an A- for its syringe-exchange efforts. The public schools, meanwhile, received the lowest grade, a C. The report cited ongoing questions about HIV/AIDS education efforts.

Overall, the report says the city is making progress on prevention and treatment strategies, but has yet to slow the spread of the disease.

Congress lifted a decade-long ban in December prohibiting D.C. from using local tax dollars to support needle-exchange programs, which distribute clean needles to intravenous drug users.

D.C. is now allocating nearly $700,000 annually to four groups involved in needle exchanges.

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