Download programme highlights - Harm Reduction International

PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS
1
Thursday, 31 March
11:00 - 12:00
Lebanon Press Club
Palm Ctr bldg, 7th flr, Furn El Chabbak
Press conference: Harm Reduction 2011 launch Harm Reduction in the Middle East
Speakers include:
Rick Lines, Executive Director International Harm Reduction
Association (IHRA)
Elie Aaraj, Secretary General of Soins Infirmiers Développement
Communautaire (SIDC), Director of the Middle East and North
Africa Harm Reduction Network (MENAHRA)
Paddy Costall, Managing Director, Conference Consortium
Georges Kordahi, MBC TV personality
Rahaf Abdallah, Miss Lebanon 2010-2011
Saturday 2 April
12.00-18.00
Metropolis Art Cinema
Empire Sofil - Achrafieh Lebanon
MTV international Drugs and Harm Reduction
Festival
Opening speaker: Georges Kordahi
Opening film: This is My Destiny (Afghanistan)
Film
Full public program available at ihra.net/conference
Note: A more extensive film festival runs from 12.30-18.00 daily
ONSITE for conference delegates only ihra.net/conference
Sunday 3 April
16.20-18.00
Banquet Hall 1+2
Opening Ceremony
Speakers:
Rick Lines, Executive Director, International Harm Reduction
Association
Elie Aaraj, Secretary General of Soins Infirmiers Développement
Communautaire (SIDC), Director of the Middle East NAD North
Africa Harm Reduction Network (MENAHRA)
Nabil Kahalah,President of the Municipality of Sin el Fil
Jude Byrne, Chair of International Network of People who use
Drugs
Anita Krug, YouthRISE
Hussein Gezairy, Regional Director, World Health Organization
Moahamad Jawad Khalifeh. Minister for Health, Lebanon
Georges Kordahi, MCB TV personality
Keynote speaker:
Joanne Csete, Associate professor of Clinical Population and
Family Health, Columbia University, USA
Intersecting inequities: In search of drug policy justice
Monday 4 April
09.00-10.30
Banquet Hall 1 +2, Plenary Room
The experience of implementing harm reduction in
Indonesia
Nafsiah Mboi, Secretary, Indonesian National AIDS Commission,
Indonesia
By 2006, unsafe drug injecting contributed a significant
proportion (48 - 50%) of reported HIV infections in Indonesia,
the world’s fourth most populous country. Indonesia’s response
was hampered by laws criminalising the carrying of needles and
syringes and controlled substances and the resistance of some
in government to change existing regulations and attitudes
toward the injecting of drugs.
By 2009, 281 NSPs and 54 OST were established in 16
provinces. In 2009 a new drug law recognised the human rights
of PWIDs including the right to treatment, rehabilitation and
protection from prosecution for drug use. Reported new HIV
infection among PWIDs declined from 1517 (2006) to 1156
(2009); HIV prevalence among PWIDs decreased from 48%50% (2006) to 39% - 42% (2009)
09.00-10.30
Banquet Hall 1 +2, Plenary Room
Evolving harm reduction strategy in MENA region: the
experience of the Middle East and North Africa Harm
Reduction Network (MENAHRA)
Elie Aaraj, Director, MENAHRA
14.00-15.30
Banquet Hall 1+2 ,Plenary Room
Social marketing of safe injecting kits in Kabul,
Afghanistan
Presenter: Murtaza Majeed, CEO, one23, Afghanistan
Very limited resources were allocated or mobilised for harm
reduction interventions. By the end of 2010, OST has been
introduced in Morocco, Afghanistan and Lebanon. Pakistan has
mobilized resources for introducing OST and scaling up other
harm reduction services. Tunisia and Syria attempted mobilizing
resources for harm reduction from the Global Fund (GF). Oman
initiated actions for introducing OST and Bahrain requested
MENAHRA’s assistance to explore possibilities. MENAHRA
mobilised substantial resources for harm reduction from the GF.
Social Marketing utilises private sector delivery channels, in this
case pharmacies, to deliver essential health products. Utilising
existing facilities such as pharmacies allows better accessibility
and choice among IDU to decide where they access their clean
equipment. It is also far more cost effective as the infrastructure
already exists.
11.00-12.30
Banquet Hall 1+2, Plenary Room
Lobbying for national policies: a lesson in diligence and
collaboration
Presenter: Nadya Mikdashi, Executive Director, Skoun, Lebanon
A network of 30 pharmacies who have been sensitised keep a
regular stock of kits that IDUs can visit at their convenience and
exchange a voucher and used equipment for clean injecting kits.
The pharmacies have a branded sign indicating a “trust point”
where IDUs can exchange a voucher for a clean injecting kit.
The pharmacist exchanges vouchers received for new stock and
also a financial incentive for each kit distributed
The Lebanese Dug laws were revised in 1998 decriminalizing
addiction. 11 years later too many people are still being
incarcerated and have no access to services. The response to
the Lebanese drug problem has lain mainly in the non
governmental sector and in drug control efforts by the
government with little or no ministerial budgets and policies
allocated towards effective responses.
14.00-15.30
Banquet Hall 1+2, Plenary Room
A women's drug clinic in Iran: improvements in drug use,
social functioning and low HIV/HCV seroincidence
Presenter: Shabnam Salimi, National Centre for Addiction
Studies (INCAS), Iran
11.00-12.30
Banquet Hall 3,Major Room
The use of modelling to improve drug policy: experiences
from the Australian drug policy modelling program
Presenter: Alison Ritter, Acting Director, National Drug and
Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales,
Australia
In 2007 we established a Women’s Drug Clinic with methadone,
sexual and general health care and NSP to improve their health.
We aimed to build capacity among drug workers and
researchers in Iran. The study aimed to monitor women in
treatment and those who left treatment early.
Good drug policy is based on a solid evidence-base however the
evidence-base is problematic: in some areas we lack evidence;
in others the evidence is contradictory; and overall, much
research does not address questions of direct relevance to
policy. One possible way of overcoming these limitations is to
use alternate methods for generating policy relevant evidence –
that is models or simulations.
14.00-15.30
Banquet Hall 1+2, Plenary Room
The status of the HIV epidemic among injecting drug
users in the Middle East and North Africa
Presenter: Ghina Mumtaz, Senior Epidemiologist, Weill Cornell
Medical College, Qatar
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A comprehensive systematic review of HIV and IDUs in MENA
was conducted through the MENA HIV/AIDS Synthesis Project.
20 years, restriction on alcohol promotion, sale and advertising.
We conducted a qualitative study among under-aged youth to
examine the nature of alcohol consumption and the relationship
between alcohol and sexual risk behaviours.
14.00-15.30
Rabieh, Concurrent Room
Meeting the needs of female drug users in Cambodia
Chhen Reksmey, The Satrey Programme, Cambodia
16.00-17.30
Rabieh, Concurrent Room
25 years of safe injecting facilities and 15 years of
heroin-assisted treatment as a regular treatment option
in Switzerland: present state and future directions
Presenter: Robert Haemmig, University of Psychiatric Services,
Berne, Switzerland
The Satrey programme conducts outreach services to 23
‘hotspot’ and provides services at the Korsang drop in centre in
the capital city of Phnom Penh. Services include health
education, medical care, referral for HIV, STI and ARV services,
drug overdose prevention, counselling, and temporary shelter.
The combination approach of outreach and drop in centre
services by female staff are essential to meeting the needs of
women who use drugs.
16.00-17.30
Hamra, Concurrent Room
Why I did drugs: a glimpse into the life of young
Lebanese drug users
Presenter: Patricia Haddad, MENAHRA, Lebanon
14.00-15.30
Hamra, Concurrent Room
Alcohol related violence: a real but as yet undefined
obstacle to development in the Pacific region
Presenter: Robert Power, Principal for Disease Prevention,
Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
There are few studies related to illicit drug use in Lebanon.
According to local rehab centres the number of drug users is on
the rise even though the studies that are done do not reflect
this. The objective of this study was to consider and appreciate
the points of view of young adults that have experienced illicit
drug use to gain a better view of why youth initiate and/or
continue to use drugs in Lebanon in order to contribute to the
design of local preventive programs.
The Pacific was virtually alcohol free until twenty years ago. Our
recent rapid assessments in Papua New Guinea and Fiji explore
the relationship between alcohol consumption and polysubstance use and violence.
Tuesday, 5 April
14.00-15.30
Hamra, Concurrent Room
Alcohol drinking environment and sexual risk among
underage young Thai
Bangorn Sirirojn, Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang
Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
09.00-10.30
Banquet Hall 1+2, Plenary Room
A global review of the risks and services needs of women
who inject drugs
Presenter: Bronwyn Myers, International Reference Group to the
United Nations on Injecting Drug Use and HIV
Background –Thailand’s per capita alcohol consumption is fifth
highest in the world and has tripled over the past 14 years and
Thai youth have high rates of alcohol consumption. In response,
the Thai Government enacted an alcohol control law in 2008
that included increasing the alcohol purchasing age from 18 to
Women are often ignored in discussions about people who inject
drugs. From the evidence available in many parts of the world,
women appear to comprise only a small proportion of people
who inject drugs, yet evidence suggests that women face more
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risks and experience greater harms than male injectors. Women
injectors also face more barriers to services than their male
counterparts, which further entrenches their vulnerability to
drug-related harms.
The Egyptian Prisons Authority has embarked on a
groundbreaking initiative to establish a national strategy for HIV
and drug-use prevention inside prison settings, including
strengthening prevention, treatment, care and support services
for prison inmates, in cooperation with the competent
government agencies, international organizations and civil
society institutions.
09.00-10.30
Banquet Hall 1+2, Plenary Room
Young people leading the drug policy revolutions
Presenter: Aram Barra, Projects Director, Espolea, Mexico
11.00-12.30
Banquet Hall 4, Major Room
HIV
prevention
and
reducing
negative
consequences of drug use in prisons in Morocco
Presenter: Fatima Asouab, Ministry of Health, Morocco
From the 12 year old boy that shoots up heroin in the Ukraine,
to the young indigenous coca leaf grower in Bolivia, or the 16
year old ketamine user at dance clubs in Europe, young people
are involved in both the demand and supply of drugs. We are
active in prevention, harm reduction and treatment responses
and are relevant actors in making decisions regarding the
policies that affect our own lives.
health
The increasing prevalence of injecting drug use in Moroccan
prisons reached an estimate 6%. In response to this, the
Penitentiary Administration together with the Moroccan MoH and
supported by UNODC- ROMENA started a comprehensive Harm
Reduction intervention in prisons settings implemented in
collaboration with NGOs with long working experience with drug
users.
The
intervention
started
by
implementing
a
comprehensive harm reduction program covering access to
basic health, providing sterile injection material and behaviour
change communication.
09.00-10.30
Banquet Hall 1+2, Plenary Room
Hard to reach communities – who do we mean and why
do we talk about them?
Pye Jakobsson,Rose Alliance, Sweden
Often service providers express concerns and frustrations
regarding working with, so called, 'hard to reach' groups. People
are seen as being especially hard to reach if they belong to
more than one marginalised group, for example sex workers
who use drugs. It seems that if it’s not a male drug user
hanging in the street or a female sex worker standing on a
street corner one is hard to reach, a concept not seldom used as
an excuse to avoid working with certain groups.
11.00-12.30
Banquet Hall 4, Major Room
Developing harm reduction interventions in Prisons
Presenter: Bahman Ebrahimi, Iran Prisons Organisation, Iran
An evaluation of harm reduction practices in Iranian prisons.
14.00-15.30
Banquet Hall 1+2, Plenary Room
Sacrificing harm reduction practice to moral ideology: the
example of the USAID anti-prostitution pledge
Presenter: Melissa Hope Ditmore, Research Fellow at the Centre
for the Study of Women and Society, University of New York,
USA
11.00-12.30
Banquet Hall 4, Major Room
The Egyptian experience in drug-use and HIV prevention
within prison settings
Presenter: Atef Sherif, Deputy Minister of Interior for the
Egyptian Prison Authority, Egypt
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Since 2003 and the Bush administration, US government grants
to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic have been subject to an
anti-prostitution requirement that forbids the 'promotion of
prostitution' by grant recipients. It has been documented that
the requirement of a ‘pledge’ not to promote prostitution has
diminished the efficacy of some HIV prevention efforts for sex
workers. In 2010, the Obama administration extended the
pledge requirement. In the context of sex work, the sacrifice of
harm reduction practice to the forms of moral ideology
embedded within these policies have and continue to render
portions of US government aid spending both brutal and
ineffective.
Therefore, we aim to minimise the violence caused by the drug
trade by reclaiming the favelas. If drug trading is done
peacefully, we see this as a major success. UPP ensure safety
within favelas so that local initiatives can work with the favela
residents to provide alternatives to the drug trade, for example,
to teach young people English to become tour guides, or play
the drums. Without first creating safe conditions, it will be
impossible for favela residents to escape the vicious circle of
drugs and crime.
16.00.17.30
Rabieh, Concurrent Room
Prisons as a source of tuberculosis: findings from
qualitative research in a Russian city
Presenter: Anya Sarang, Head, Andrey Rylkov Foundation,
Russia
14.00-15.30
Banquet Hall 3, Major Room
Drug policy in African countries: a concern for young
people
Presenter: Adeolu Ogunrombi, Community Youth Advancement
Initiative Nigeria, Nigeria
Issue Russia is the second leading country in the rate of
incarceration. Some estimates suggest up to 80% are sentenced
because of drug-related crime. Drug use is prevalent in prisons,
and HIV prevention is absent. Russia has a growing problem of
tuberculosis (TB), and is among the three leading countries with
the highest incidence of MDR-TB. Tuberculosis is the leading
cause of death among people with HIV.
Africa is currently witnessing a youth bulge in population. Many
of these young people are initiating drugs and consequently
affected by drug policies which are punitive and lack scientific
evidence. Globalization and shifts in the global drug trade have
led to sharp increases in the availability of illicit drugs and
increased domestic drug use across Africa. The United Nations
estimated that about $1 billion worth of cocaine destined to
Europe from Latin America passed through West Africa in 2008.
16.00.17.30
Rabieh, Concurrent Room
Prevalence and risk factors of pulmonary tuberculosis
among prison inmates in Khartoum, Sudan
Presenter: Hamza Omer, Human Rights Ambassador, Permanent
Mission of the Republic of the Sudan to the United Nations Office
at Geneva
16.00.17.30
Banquet Hall 4, Major Room
Reducing harm: innovative policing in Brazil
Presenter: Leonardo Nogueira, Police Pacification Unit (UPP), Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil
A cross sectional study design was used to determine the
prevalence and risk factors associated with TB suspicion and
smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis (SPPTB) among prison
inmates in Khartoum, Sudan in the year 2007. A sample of 382
prison inmates were selected from 2647 prisoners to participate
in the study from Khartoum state prisons (Khartoum and
Khartoum north correctional institutes, Soba prison, Omdurman
Drug-related violence, rife in the favelas of Brazil, is largely
fuelled by prohibitionist laws. Having worked for many years as
a police officer, and for five years taking part in dramatic
interventions in favelas, it is clear how ineffective and harmful
such policies are.
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men and Omdurman women prisons) according to their
population proportions.
09.00-10.30
Banquet Hall 3, Major Room
Will availability to Swedish type smokeless tobacco
(snus) speed up quit-rates for cigarette smoking?
Empirical findings from Norway and Sweden
Presenter: Karl Lund, Research Director, Norwegian Institute for
Alcohol and Drug Research, Norway
16.00-17.30
Hamra, Concurrent Room
Lesbian, bisexual and queer women and health in
Lebanon
Presenter: Anthony Rizk, Board member, Helem, Lebanon
It is widely believed that Sweden has the West's lowest smoking
rates because of the substitution of smokeless tobacco (called
"snus" in Sweden) for smoking. Elsewhere in the EU snus is
banned, and opponents of lifting the ban often claim that there
is no evidence that snus is useful for smoking cessation.
However, in countries exempted from this ban like Norway and
Sweden, snus has for some time been the preferred method for
quitting among male smokers, and the method has also been
adopted by an increasing number of female smokers.
Helem is a non-government organisation that was formed in
2004 to lead a peaceful struggle for LGBT equality rights in
Lebanon. The organisation’s work encompasses health,
advocacy, media, legal representation, and awareness raising
activities among others. Session attendees will gain insight into
the challenges that this LGBT health and advocacy agency
experiences working in a setting where both drug use and
homosexuality is illegal. There will be opportunities to discuss
drug use issues among LGBT people in Beirut, and how Helem
responds to these issues using a harm reduction approach.
09.00-10.30
Banquet Hall 4, Major Room
Implementing comprehensive case management in opioid
substitution therapy in Kabul, Afghanistan
Presenter: Senop Tschakarjan, Medical Coordinator, Médecins
du Monde (MDM), Kabul, Afghanistan
Wednesday, 6 April
09.00-10.30
Banquet Hall 1+2, Plenary Room
Presenter: Maysa Kassabry, Palestinian Territory
MDM is implementing a model program for comprehensive harm
reduction in Afghanistan since 2006. Case Management is being
implemented since the start of Opiate Substitution Therapy.
Participants include 3 medical doctors, a nurse, a psychologist, a
representative of the people using drugs and a social worker in
charge of case management follow up. Meetings take place once
a week. Two to three patients are being discussed every week.
Difficult cases are being identified beforehand. After establishing
a comprehensive “picture” of the patient’s history and current
situation, covering somatic health, mental health and social
issues (bio-psycho-social approach), a procedure plan is
established for the following weeks. Approximately one month
later the case is being re-evaluated.
Sex workers in Palestine are defined as prostitutes or as a form
of social deterioration. They may be only 40 registered cases, as
sex work is hidden and impossible to announce. In addition, sex
workers are deprived from access to health services since they
are stigmatized and social outcasts. Only unknown small
charities and social organizations provide services to them. And
within the health programs developed for sex workers in
Palestine like UNFPA, UNIFEM and UNDP, sex workers are not
involved in the planning process or consulted in needs
assessment. Responsively, Palestine Health policy, rules and
regulations are weak to make advocacy for sex workers rights.
There are no rules protecting them.
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11.00-12.30
Banquet Hall 1+2, Plenary Room
professional life has been devoted to drugs and health. He was
also a member of the Portuguese Committee which, in 1999,
prepared the report on which the first Portuguese Drug
Strategy, which included decriminalisation, was based. The
Portuguese experience is widely seen as the model for harm
reduction around the globe- since decriminalisation in 2001
rates of HIV infection, Hepatitis, drug use and drug related
crime have reduced dramatically.
Global Fund Investments in harm reduction: latest data
analyses and trends
Presenter: Ade Fakoya, Senior Advisor HIV and AIDS, The
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB & Malaria (GFATM).
The Global Fund has undertaken a series of initiatives to
promote harm reduction and support applicants, while adhering
to its country-driven principles. This presentation will overview
findings from in-depth grant portfolio analyses currently being
undertaken. It will provide detailed assessments of how much is
being spent on key harm reduction interventions, where this
funding is going and what results are being achieved. This will,
in turn, help inform assessments of progress being made over
time and identify the gaps that still exist – informing future
efforts for the Global Fund and its stakeholders.
11.00-12.30
Banquet Hall 3, Plenary Room
Developing WHO guidance on viral hepatitis b and c for
people who use drugs
Presenter: Annette Verster, WHO/Eastern Mediterranean
Regional Office
In 2010, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution
requesting WHO to provide support to the development of
scientific research related to viral hepatitis. Over the last
decade, WHO developed guidance on the prevention, treatment
and care of HIV in PWID. Because PWID are most affected by
viral hepatitis in many regions, there is an urgent need to
develop recommendations on the management of prevention,
vaccination, screening and treatment of viral hepatitis in this
population. Key issues that need further guidance include
surveillance of viral hepatitis B an C; effective methods of HBV
vaccination in PWID and in prisons; improving access to
prevention, screening, and treatment of viral hepatitis among
PWID.
11.00-12.30
Banquet Hall 1+2, Plenary Room
In Ukraine 60% of IDUs are reached by harm reduction
programs: what is next?
Presenter: Pavlo Smyrnov, Deputy Director at the International
HIV/AIDS Alliance, Ukraine office, Ukraine
In 2004 Ukraine started scale-up of harm reduction programs
for intravenous drug users (IDUs) to address HIV/AIDS epidemic
exploding in this group. The initial coverage was 8% and the
main task was to increase it to 60%. The task is different now:
provide services to those who were reached.
11.00-12.30
Banquet Hall 4, Major Room
Piloting opiate substitution therapy in the Islamic
Republic of Afghanistan - first results
Presenter: Amin Zemaray, Médecins du Monde, Kabul,
Afghanistan
13.00-14.00
Dialogue Space, Exhibition Area
Decriminalisation in Portugal
Presenter: João Castel-Branco Goulão, President, Institute on
Drugs and Drug Addiction, Chairman of the European Monitoring
Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) Portugal
The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is facing a growing drug use
problem and a concentrated HIV/AIDS epidemic among
Injecting Drug Users (IDUs). One million Afghans are using
drugs, including 120,000 regular heroin users. HIV prevalence
reached an average of 7% in three cities in 2009, as compared
A medical doctor by profession, Dr. Goulão has over 20 years
experience regarding drug-related issues, working in this field
since 1987 as general practitioner and since then all his
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to 3% in one city in 2006.Upon request of the Ministry of
Health, MdM started the implementation of a pilot Opiate
Substitution Therapy (OST) program for 200 heroin users in
Kabul, Afghanistan. Methadone was selected as OST under daily
observed therapy. Inclusion of the first patients started in
February 2010. Data was measured at baseline and after 4
months. Retention rate was evaluated after 7 months.
Four options are possible: more inclusive bans (including
banning e-cigarettes or even personal possession of snus);
maintaining the status quo (likely in the US); fewer marketing
restrictions (more likely for snus in the EU than any US
product); or open endorsement of THR (unlikely). Countries
lacking such strong institutions will likely mimic major changes.
Will there be a race towards locking in the cigarette market
share by preventing informed choice or might we see the most
meaningful western public health policy of the century?
11.00-12.30
Banquet Hall 4, Major Room
Methadone maintenance program in Morocco: a choice for
a mixed implementation, ambulatory facility with harm
reduction interventions and detoxification inpatient
services
Presenter: Mohammed Essalhi, Moroccan Ministry of Health,
Morocco
AIDS is a growing problem in Morocco among a most at risk and
vulnerable populations (SW; MSM; IDUs, Inmates etc.) Morocco
has been a pioneer in the region to develop since nineteenth, a
comprehensive national program to tackle HIV/AIDS. The
country had a strong political and financial commitment to
combat HIV/AIDS and its willingness to engage civil society and
work with the international development community. The
Ministry of Heath (MoH) has started since 2007, the
implementation of a comprehensive harm reduction program for
IDUs, that includes access to basic health and social services at
a drop-in -centre, outreach activities and MMT.
14.00-15.30
Banquet Hall 3, Major Room
A survey of healthcare professionals in the UK, Sweden
and Norway on their attitudes about the role that tobacco
harm reduction can play in helping reduce public health
impacts of tobacco use
Presenter: Sudhanshu Patwardhan, International Scientific
Affairs Manager, Medical and Public Health, British American
Tobacco, UK
The debate over the role of tobacco harm reduction in helping
reduce public health impacts of tobacco use is dividing the
public health community, pitching those in favour of a broader
approach against supporters of the 'quit or die', approach (1,2).
Healthcare professionals (HCPs), particularly General
Practitioners, nurses and smoking cessation advisors, are at the
frontline of initiatives to combat smoking. We designed a survey
to find out how aware HCPs are of this ongoing debate and their
views on tobacco harm reduction.
14.00-15.30
Banquet Hall 3, Major Room
Tobacco harm reduction regulations in the US and the
European Union: a race to the bottom or a race to the top
Presenter: Karyn Heavner, School of Health, University of
Alberta, Canada
14.00-15.30
Rabieh, Concurrent Room
Starting comprehensive harm reduction in Temeke
District, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
Presenter: Celine Debaulieu, Médecins du Monde- France,
Tanzania
Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) is dependent on low-risk
products being available, and is dramatically enhanced if they
are also legal and manufacturers can make accurate claims
about the reduced risks from switching. The US and European
Union (EU) regulatory environments are such that either could
become the leader in THR or be responsible for denying the
world its benefits.
Recent research has documented the increasing prevalence of
injecting drug use (IDU) in Eastern Africa. In Dar-es-Salaam,
Tanzania, HIV prevalence rates are estimated to be around 40%
in the IDU population. Médecins du Monde France (MdM-F) has
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started a comprehensive Harm Reduction intervention in
Temeke District. This program is mainly targeting IDUs. The
intervention is implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of
Health and a local NGO that has worked for several years with
drug users. After analysing the knowledge regarding HIV and
viral hepatitis and the drug use behaviours among the drug
users’ community, MDM-F has started the implementation of a
comprehensive harm reduction program that includes access to
basic health and social services in a drop-in centre, outreach
activities, provision of sterile injection material and behaviour
change communication.
locations we work at include the Coast of Kenya and Dar es
Salam where drug-use is most prevalent especially amongst the
youth. We take the integration of legal services approach in
harm reduction because drug users in the region are extremely
vulnerable in the face of the law. Anecdotal evidence of this
imbalance is illustrated at Shimo la Tewa Prison in Mombasa
where 70% of the inmates are incarcerated on drug-related
charges.
Thursday 7 April
09.00-10.30
Banquet Hall 3, Major Room
HIV risk environment from a rapidly modernising
Malaysian fishing industry: a call for structural harm
reduction intervention.
Presenter: Martin Choo, Centre of Excellence for Research in
AIDS, University of Malaya, Malaysia
16.00-17.30
Banquet Hall 3, Major Room
Outreach workers supporting behaviour change among
injecting drug users: an adapted and effective harm
reduction approach in Egypt
Presenter: Doaa Oraby, Family Health International, Cairo,
Egypt
Fishermen in Malaysia account for 3.8% of reported cases for
HIV in 2009 with the main route of transmission being injecting
drug use. With the objective of understanding the HIV risk
environment of fishermen, this study explores the relationship
between injecting drug use and the culture of fishing in
Kuantan, Malaysia.
Recovering injecting drug users (IDUs) are committed to
carrying a message of common welfare to their peers according
to narcotics anonymous which is popular accepted tradition in
Egypt. Motivated male and female recovering IDUs were
engaged to conduct outreach activities and peer education
targeting IDUs and focusing on harm reduction. They were
trained in the areas of behaviour change communication,
negotiation skills, micro planning, risk reduction counselling,
harm reduction and peer education.
11.00-12.30
Banquet Hall 3, Major Room
Russia: new trends in drug use lead to severe health
consequences and death among IDUs
Presenter: Alena Vladimirovna Asaeva, Russia
16.00-17.30
Banquet Hall 3, Major Room
Rabieh Concurrent Room
Integration of legal support into harm reduction services
to advance the health and human rights of drug users in
Eastern Africa
Presenter: Umra Omar, Health Program Assistant, Eastern Africa
Initiative, Open Society Foundations, Kenya, Nairobi
Harm reduction and drug treatment services from all over the
country (Moscow, Tatarstan, Yakutia etc) report about severe
health consequences caused by use of desomorphine,
tianeptine, and tropicamide. Injections of tianeptine and
desomorphine which home production involves the use of
sulphur, benzene, iodine and hydrochloric acid lead to rapid
progression of trombosis, trophic ucler, necrosis and gangrene.
One of the most severe consequences of desomorphine use is
bisphosphat necrosis. As a result of poor access to health care
among IDUs in Russia, medical help is often offered only at the
Our aim is to promote legal and human rights issues in harm
reduction by issuing grants to tackle punitive laws and address
violence and stigma targeted at drug users. The primary
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late stage of disease. Specialized surgical interventions are
expensive and can be performed only in several hospitals in the
RF, and for many drug users use of pharmaceutical drugs ends
with amputation and even death.
Replacing smoking with a smokeless delivery system for the
primary drug, nicotine, can reduce risks by about 99%, which is
basically as good as abstinence. Because smoking is so popular,
the total potential health benefits from tobacco harm reduction
(THR) dwarf those from any other area of harm reduction.
Substitution of oral smokeless tobacco is the only proven
method of reducing smoking rates below about 20% in any
population where smoking has become popular. With the
creation of an increasing array of appealing smokeless tobacco
products and electronic vaporizers ('e-cigarettes'), the potential
appeal of substitution is increasing.
11.00-12.30
Banquet Hall 4, Major Room
People who use drugs, HIV, and human rights
Presenter: Joanne Csete, Associate professor of Clinical
Population and Family Health, Columbia University, USA
People who use drugs are being left behind in efforts to achieve
universal access to comprehensive HIV prevention and
treatment. Rather than relying on evidence-based interventions,
many countries continue to take approaches to drug use focused
on criminalization and the imposition of harsh penalties. We
reviewed the evidence regarding human rights problems faced
by people who use drugs, and of the implications of human
rights violations on efforts to respond to HIV and related health
concerns among them. Over 900 studies and other documents
were reviewed.
13.30-15.00
Banquet Hall 1+2, Plenary Room
The United States President’s Emergency Program for
AIDS Relief (PEPFAR): progress and challenges in
building country-level capacity for comprehensive HIV
prevention for persons who inject drugs
Presenter: Rich Needle, Senior Public Health Advisor at PEPFAR,
Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator
As part of the 2010 financial appropriations process, the US
Congress lifted the ban on domestic funding for needle and
syringe exchange programs. On July 10 2010, PEPFAR released
a revised technical guidance document on Comprehensive HIV
Prevention for People Who Inject Drugs. This guidance affirmed
PEPFAR’s support for comprehensive, evidence-based, and
human rights-based HIV prevention programs for persons who
inject drugs. As part of this guidance, PEPFAR explicitly allowed
funding for to be used for needle and syringe exchange
programmes as one component of comprehensive HIV
prevention programmes among persons who inject drugs along
with medication assisted treatment, ART and other
interventions.
13.30-15.00
Banquet Hall 1+2, Plenary Room
Effectiveness and cost effectiveness of harm reduction
Presenter: David Wilson, Global HIV/AIDS Program Director,
World Bank, USA
There is clear evidence that both needle syringe programmes
and medication assisted therapy are effective. A growing
literature also demonstrates how cost effective they are and
how great the cost of inaction or ineffective action is. The
evidence shows the returns on investment in effective harm
reduction are amongst the highest in public health.
13.30-15.00
Banquet Hall 1+2, Plenary Room
Forfeit of stand fast: human rights of people who use
drugs
Presenter: Irina Teplinskaya, volunteer, Andrey Rylkov
Foundation, Russia
13.30-15.00
Banquet Hall 1+2, Plenary Room
Tobacco harm reduction: will we see a public health
triumph or a defeat for all harm reduction?
Presenter: Carl Phillips
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My life is a mirror reflecting the fate of millions of people who
use drugs in Russia and most of the former Soviet countries. My
beliefs have faded away by undelivered promises of the officials;
I have nothing to lose as my health has gone, many of my
friends have died of AIDS, TB and overdoses; I am tired of
begging the authorities to fulfil their legal obligations. Drug
users in Russia often suffer ill-treatment and punishment, lack
of access to medical help, infringements of the right to privacy
and freedom of expression, violation of other human rights and
freedoms.
15.15-16.00
Banquet Hall 1+2
Closing Ceremony
Speakers:
Pat O’Hare, Honorary President, IHRA
Elie Aaraj, Director, SIDC and MENAHRA
Paddy Costall, Managing Director, Conference Consortium
Rick Lines, Executive Director, IHRA
Donya Aziz, Member, National Assembly, Pakistan
Awards ceremony
National Rolleston Award
Travis Jenkins Award
Film Festival Award
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