Harm Reduction Conference Reports

A team of Key Correspondents (KC) attended the 20th International Harm Reduction Conference (IHRA) in Bangkok, Thailand, 20-23 April 2009.

For the days of 27 April – 11 May 2009, the SEA-AIDS eForum Resource Team (eFRT) has posted the conference reports written by the KC Team. This posting reviews the KC articles posted between 4-11 May 2009.

Find an overview of the first installment of articles from IHRA (posted 27 April – 1 May 2009) here: http://www.healthdev.org/viewmsg.aspx?msgid=6c68458b-7d9d-4f9b-9d6f-542446be9e5d


----------------
From Nixon to Obama: what hope for a better drug policy?

“...introducing human rights of drug users will not be an easy task for many advocates and activists particularly in Asia. How does one raise the issue of human rights for drug users in countries where the notion is often seen as a western propaganda?” – Palani Narayanan

Read it here: http://www.healthdev.org/viewmsg.aspx?msgid=f8a48d84-7d82-46e6-b1b9-570b6627bc35

----------------
Integrating services for HIV, TB and Drug Users – Prakash Tyagi

Read it here: http://www.healthdev.org/viewmsg.aspx?msgid=5a1826e8-3c7b-4f92-a1eb-37e660095cc4

----------------
The missing link: poverty, deprivation and drug harm

“The dominant theme at this conference is the need for a rights-based approach to harm reduction. Policy makers would be wise to also consider sufficient interventions to reverse the social and economic factors amplifying drug-related harm, otherwise the effectiveness of harm reduction will be severely jeopardised in communities with populations who are relatively deprived.” – Ian Hodgson

Read it here: http://www.healthdev.org/viewmsg.aspx?msgid=b7c560ac-21ff-4954-b43d-06d5a788ca1b

----------------
The war on fruit juices: Making legal aid an integral part of harm reduction services

“By printing pocket sized cards for drug users with information about human rights, and local drug legislation, the project aims to inform drug users about the best ways to challenge illegal police activity... Messages on the cards include: Can a police officer search for drugs in my vagina or rectum? Are the police allowed to strip search me in the streets? Am I entitled to make a phone call if I am taken into custody?” - Palani Narayanan on the ‘Street Lawyers Project’ in Copenhagen, Denmark

Read it here: http://www.healthdev.org/viewmsg.aspx?msgid=bcbb014e-7363-4f7b-bf88-815a7d49610a

----------------
Bring Law Enforcement and Harm Reducation Together: transforming theory into reality

“There is a need to understand this issue [drug use] more holistically. Police and law enforcement are a part of society and reflect public feelings.” – Prakash Tyagi

Read it here: http://www.healthdev.org/viewmsg.aspx?msgid=18ca5dbd-bec8-4fb3-8ddb-3722aa0b839d

----------------
Ethics, rights and drug use: why is it so hard?

“Examples of the systematic abuse of many drug users confirm that legislation in many countries is based less on individual rights and more on command and control.” – Prakash Tyagi

Read it here: http://www.healthdev.org/viewmsg.aspx?msgid=d971e6ee-f455-4ca8-b4de-de55377beeb4

----------------
Human rights violations again drug users in Asia: Case study examples – Palani Narayanan

Read it here: http://www.healthdev.org/viewmsg.aspx?msgid=743c58e4-fe3d-4e45-a922-b805e930ae0d