INDIANAPOLIS (AP): Indiana Health Commissioner Jerome Adams has declared a public health emergency for Wayne County, moving the eastern Indiana community one step closer to a syringe-exchange program aimed at stopping the spread of disease.

The action Friday by Adams allows the Wayne County Health Department to establish a needle-exchange program and comes more than eight months after the county’s health officer declared a health emergency. However, the Wayne County commissioners debated the matter for months and didn’t turned in the necessary paperwork until Tuesday.

Adams says rising hepatitis C rates are a key indicator of injection drug use that can spread disease. He says the public health emergency declaration lasts one year.

Four other Indiana counties – Fayette, Madison, Monroe and Scott – also have state approval to operate needle exchanges.