UNODC has just published the second volume of "De Narcoticis"; a series of photojournalism books depicting the lives of real people involved in - or touched by - the trade in illicit drugs.
Details and short video below.
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/drug-trafficking-in-the-golden-triangle.html
Drug trafficking in the Golden Triangle
SHARE
Del.icio.us Digg It Facebook reddit Stumble It! TwitThis6 January 2009 - UNODC has just published the second volume of "De Narcoticis"; a series of photojournalism books depicting the lives of real people involved in - or touched by - the trade in illicit drugs.
This second volume takes as its canvas the area which has come to be known as the Golden Triangle; the part of South East Asia encompassing Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. The first volume focused on Colombia. UNODC has been active here for many years, with much success. The area now produces only 5 per cent of the world's opiates (down from over 70 per cent some 30 years ago) and UNODC has been influential in bringing local governments together in a common fight against the drug trade.
The book is produced by award-winning photographer, journalist and UNODC goodwill ambassador, Alessandro Scotti. Scotti says that the "de Narcoticis" project "gives a face to the protagonists of this world. It's an underworld which has been examined closely enough to give us plenty of figures and statistics, but which is less known for its personal stories".
The stories in the book are varied: it does not judge any of the characters involved, and there are many. They range from enforcement officers to traffickers, plantation workers to addicts in treatment centres; people united only by the fact that they all occupy some small part of the long drug trafficking chain.
These small links in the chain are a theme to which Scotti returns regularly. "The people involved in trafficking have only a very partial perception of the overall phenomenon, and yet their lives are powerfully affected by it. They are simple people with a limited perception of the impact of their actions. Most are in any case tied to the 'job' for their very survival; desperate people with otherwise limited life chances or opportunities."
Scotti says this is why he believes UNODC's work beyond enforcement is so important. "UNODC offers a holistic approach including development strategies which allow alternative businesses to grow and become sustainable. A stronger economic and social framework leads to a different balance."
The book is designed to do more than tell stories through photography, though: it elicits a powerful response in the reader. As UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa says, it "challenges us to respond".
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Hep C and IDU
Welcome to 2009, loyal subscribers!
Interesting news story, below, on the rise of Hep C among IDUs, and the role of NSP to turn the tide. The story is about the UK, but this issue is global.
Happy New Year!
Rob
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jan/07/drugs-hepatitis-c-society-needle-exchange
A dose of realityAn increase in cases of hepatitis C among injecting drug users has led to calls to reverse the dramatic fall in needle exchangesDiane Taylor The Guardian, Wednesday 7 January 2009 Article historyIn terms of its public profile, hepatitis C is a poor relation of the HIV virus. However, an estimated 170 million people worldwide are infected with the blood-borne virus, and many of them have no idea they are walking around with it until years or even decades later. Twenty years after becoming infected, one in six people develop serious liver damage; after 30 years, the figure is nearly a quarter.
New figures published by the Health Protection Agency show that there has been an increase in hepatitis C among injecting drug users. In the late 1990s, a fifth of injectors became infected within three years of starting to inject, but now around 50% of injectors have the virus.
Because the virus is able to survive outside the body for longer than HIV, it is relatively easy to become infected with it, and the main route of transmission in this country is among drug users who share injection paraphernalia.
It is with this group that the most effective harm reduction work can be done and the Department of Health, the National Treatment Agency and Exchange Supplies have launched a campaign urging drug users not to share injecting equipment.
However, Sara McGrail, an independent drug policy specialist, is concerned about a dramatic fall in the number of needle exchanges. She says: "I'd like to see more of these needle exchanges, and they should offer extended access and support. At the moment, a lot of needle exchanges are open only from 9am to 5pm.
"Harm reduction is mentioned only once in the new drugs strategy, and this is a real missed opportunity. For the last 10 years, the government has pursued a policy of trying to reduce demand for drugs. What we need is pragmatic harm reduction, because access to clean needles saves lives."
David MacKintosh, policy adviser to the London Drug Policy Forum, says that one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of the virus among drug users is to reach people when they first start injecting. "We need to go back to what we used to do, with more outreach to drug users, including better education and more needle exchange programmes," he says.
It was Margaret Thatcher's government that pioneered the use of needle exchanges and other harm reduction measures to prevent an epidemic of HIV among drug users in the 1980s. The policy was extremely effective, and when hepatitis C emerged as another threat, the distribution of clean needles helped to curb the spread of this virus.
Erin O'Mara, editor of Black Poppy, the health and lifestyle magazine for drug users, believes peer education could go a long way toward reducing the spread of hepatitis C. "People who sit in crack houses and those under 18 may be under the radar of drugs services," she says. "Peer educators who are also sitting in those crack houses or in drug users' kitchens can get those safety messages across."
While hepatitis C is a potentially fatal condition that is on the increase, Graham Foster, professor of hepatology at Queen Mary, University of London, sounds a note of optimism. The condition, he points out, is usually treatable with a drug regime and, even at a cost of several thousand pounds, is much more cost effective than caring for someone with liver failure.
"Things are getting a little better," Foster says. "Barriers to treatment are coming down, although we've still got a long way to go. We haven't jumped forward, but we are certainly inching forward ."
Interesting news story, below, on the rise of Hep C among IDUs, and the role of NSP to turn the tide. The story is about the UK, but this issue is global.
Happy New Year!
Rob
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jan/07/drugs-hepatitis-c-society-needle-exchange
A dose of realityAn increase in cases of hepatitis C among injecting drug users has led to calls to reverse the dramatic fall in needle exchangesDiane Taylor The Guardian, Wednesday 7 January 2009 Article historyIn terms of its public profile, hepatitis C is a poor relation of the HIV virus. However, an estimated 170 million people worldwide are infected with the blood-borne virus, and many of them have no idea they are walking around with it until years or even decades later. Twenty years after becoming infected, one in six people develop serious liver damage; after 30 years, the figure is nearly a quarter.
New figures published by the Health Protection Agency show that there has been an increase in hepatitis C among injecting drug users. In the late 1990s, a fifth of injectors became infected within three years of starting to inject, but now around 50% of injectors have the virus.
Because the virus is able to survive outside the body for longer than HIV, it is relatively easy to become infected with it, and the main route of transmission in this country is among drug users who share injection paraphernalia.
It is with this group that the most effective harm reduction work can be done and the Department of Health, the National Treatment Agency and Exchange Supplies have launched a campaign urging drug users not to share injecting equipment.
However, Sara McGrail, an independent drug policy specialist, is concerned about a dramatic fall in the number of needle exchanges. She says: "I'd like to see more of these needle exchanges, and they should offer extended access and support. At the moment, a lot of needle exchanges are open only from 9am to 5pm.
"Harm reduction is mentioned only once in the new drugs strategy, and this is a real missed opportunity. For the last 10 years, the government has pursued a policy of trying to reduce demand for drugs. What we need is pragmatic harm reduction, because access to clean needles saves lives."
David MacKintosh, policy adviser to the London Drug Policy Forum, says that one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of the virus among drug users is to reach people when they first start injecting. "We need to go back to what we used to do, with more outreach to drug users, including better education and more needle exchange programmes," he says.
It was Margaret Thatcher's government that pioneered the use of needle exchanges and other harm reduction measures to prevent an epidemic of HIV among drug users in the 1980s. The policy was extremely effective, and when hepatitis C emerged as another threat, the distribution of clean needles helped to curb the spread of this virus.
Erin O'Mara, editor of Black Poppy, the health and lifestyle magazine for drug users, believes peer education could go a long way toward reducing the spread of hepatitis C. "People who sit in crack houses and those under 18 may be under the radar of drugs services," she says. "Peer educators who are also sitting in those crack houses or in drug users' kitchens can get those safety messages across."
While hepatitis C is a potentially fatal condition that is on the increase, Graham Foster, professor of hepatology at Queen Mary, University of London, sounds a note of optimism. The condition, he points out, is usually treatable with a drug regime and, even at a cost of several thousand pounds, is much more cost effective than caring for someone with liver failure.
"Things are getting a little better," Foster says. "Barriers to treatment are coming down, although we've still got a long way to go. We haven't jumped forward, but we are certainly inching forward ."
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
New WHO guidelines on TB/HIV services for drug users
WHO has released the following new document:
POLICY GUIDELINES FOR COLLABORATIVE TB AND HIV SERVICES FOR INJECTING AND OTHER DRUG USERS AN INTEGRATED APPROACH
Our IDU programs should be looking for ways to actively link our IDU clients with TB services. This document outlines best practices on how to do this, and more.
You can download it at: http://www.psi.org//HIV/tools/Collaborative%20TB%20HIV%20Services%20IDUs.pdf
Rob
POLICY GUIDELINES FOR COLLABORATIVE TB AND HIV SERVICES FOR INJECTING AND OTHER DRUG USERS AN INTEGRATED APPROACH
Our IDU programs should be looking for ways to actively link our IDU clients with TB services. This document outlines best practices on how to do this, and more.
You can download it at: http://www.psi.org//HIV/tools/Collaborative%20TB%20HIV%20Services%20IDUs.pdf
Rob
What Global Fund Wants to See in Proposals
In the latest edition of the Global Fund Observer (available at www.aidspan.org), there is a short article outlining what GF wants to see in proposals. Especially for people in countries applying in Round 9, reading this will be 3 minutes well spent. (see below)
Rob
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
1. NEWS: TRP Provides Important Guidance on What it Wants to See in Proposals
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
The Fund’s Technical Review Panel (TRP) has provided some important guidance on what can lead it to recommend that a Global Fund proposal be funded or not funded. This guidance, which is much more explicit than the TRP has provided in the past, is buried deep in a report prepared for last month’s Global Fund Board meeting. The report, entitled, "Report of the Technical Review Panel and the Secretariat on Round 8 Proposals," is available under "TRP Report to the Board" at www.theglobalfund.org/en/board/meetings/eighteenth/documents.
In the report, the TRP listed a number of factors that it said constitute "the minimum fundamental prerequisites for a recommendation for funding."
Although the prerequisites listed below have not been adopted as formal Global Fund policy, they nevertheless constitute important guidance for applicants preparing proposals for Round 9 (and beyond) because they provide insight into the way the TRP evaluates proposals.
The prerequisites listed by the TRP (and we quote them exactly as written) are as follows:
A disease proposal that is based upon and responds directly to the current, documented, epidemiological situation;
A coherent strategy that flows in a consistent order throughout the proposal – with the implementation plans having the same objectives, program areas ('Service Delivery Areas'), and interventions/activities as are stated in the budget, the work plan, the 'Performance Framework';
A robust gap analysis, both programmatic and financial, that accounts for the full extent of existing resources (including those planned and/or reasonably anticipated based on past practice) and not merely signed arrangements;
Clear and realistic analysis of implementation and absorptive capacity constraints (whether disease specific or broader health systems) that relate directly to the in-country social, environmental and other contexts;
Logical strategies to address capacity constraints, whether through the existing funding application, or through other domestic or partner supported initiatives (which are also subject to performance assessments and adjustments);
Implementation arrangements that recognize and respond to the need to broaden service delivery channels to multiple sectors to achieve universal access to prevention, treatment, and care and support services for people most affected;
Demonstrated effort to address the more challenging drivers of, especially, the HIV epidemic in ways that will have a meaningful impact on preventing further infections;
A clear plan for how to monitor activities and evaluate the impact of interventions;
A budget that is sufficiently detailed to allow the costs of activities to be assessed;
A workplan that makes clear the timing and sequencing of activities and responsibilities for each activity;
and
Planned outcomes (included as indicators in the 'Performance Framework') that address and respond to current epidemiological data, and demonstrate that the incremental investment of additional Global Fund resources will improve disease specific and broader health outcomes for those most at risk.
The TRP said that by dealing effectively with all these prerequisites, an applicant will demonstrate to the TRP that it "has a clear need for the additional resources, and has planned its funding request in a way that will supplement and strengthen in-country responses to the three diseases."
Significantly, the TRP added that "addressing weaknesses in earlier 'Category 3' proposals is also an important, but not determining factor, as to whether a proposal is recommended for funding."
The TRP went on to provide a number of observations on Round 8 proposals. These are discussed in the next article.
Rob
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
1. NEWS: TRP Provides Important Guidance on What it Wants to See in Proposals
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
The Fund’s Technical Review Panel (TRP) has provided some important guidance on what can lead it to recommend that a Global Fund proposal be funded or not funded. This guidance, which is much more explicit than the TRP has provided in the past, is buried deep in a report prepared for last month’s Global Fund Board meeting. The report, entitled, "Report of the Technical Review Panel and the Secretariat on Round 8 Proposals," is available under "TRP Report to the Board" at www.theglobalfund.org/en/board/meetings/eighteenth/documents.
In the report, the TRP listed a number of factors that it said constitute "the minimum fundamental prerequisites for a recommendation for funding."
Although the prerequisites listed below have not been adopted as formal Global Fund policy, they nevertheless constitute important guidance for applicants preparing proposals for Round 9 (and beyond) because they provide insight into the way the TRP evaluates proposals.
The prerequisites listed by the TRP (and we quote them exactly as written) are as follows:
A disease proposal that is based upon and responds directly to the current, documented, epidemiological situation;
A coherent strategy that flows in a consistent order throughout the proposal – with the implementation plans having the same objectives, program areas ('Service Delivery Areas'), and interventions/activities as are stated in the budget, the work plan, the 'Performance Framework';
A robust gap analysis, both programmatic and financial, that accounts for the full extent of existing resources (including those planned and/or reasonably anticipated based on past practice) and not merely signed arrangements;
Clear and realistic analysis of implementation and absorptive capacity constraints (whether disease specific or broader health systems) that relate directly to the in-country social, environmental and other contexts;
Logical strategies to address capacity constraints, whether through the existing funding application, or through other domestic or partner supported initiatives (which are also subject to performance assessments and adjustments);
Implementation arrangements that recognize and respond to the need to broaden service delivery channels to multiple sectors to achieve universal access to prevention, treatment, and care and support services for people most affected;
Demonstrated effort to address the more challenging drivers of, especially, the HIV epidemic in ways that will have a meaningful impact on preventing further infections;
A clear plan for how to monitor activities and evaluate the impact of interventions;
A budget that is sufficiently detailed to allow the costs of activities to be assessed;
A workplan that makes clear the timing and sequencing of activities and responsibilities for each activity;
and
Planned outcomes (included as indicators in the 'Performance Framework') that address and respond to current epidemiological data, and demonstrate that the incremental investment of additional Global Fund resources will improve disease specific and broader health outcomes for those most at risk.
The TRP said that by dealing effectively with all these prerequisites, an applicant will demonstrate to the TRP that it "has a clear need for the additional resources, and has planned its funding request in a way that will supplement and strengthen in-country responses to the three diseases."
Significantly, the TRP added that "addressing weaknesses in earlier 'Category 3' proposals is also an important, but not determining factor, as to whether a proposal is recommended for funding."
The TRP went on to provide a number of observations on Round 8 proposals. These are discussed in the next article.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Confirmation that methadone in prison reduces infection risk
From Australia the first trial to randomly allocate prisoners seeking this treatment to methadone maintenance - important, because previous trials could not eliminate the possibility that outcomes were simply due to promising cases self-selecting for treatment. Making this option available led to substantial reductions in heroin use, injecting and syringe sharing. Print publication 2004 [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
http://findings.org.uk/docs/nug_10_8.pdf
http://findings.org.uk/docs/nug_10_8.pdf
First randomised trial of needle exchange
First randomised trial of needle exchange
Alaskan needle exchanges passed an unusually stringent test of whether they improved on simply enabling injectors to buy equipment from pharmacies. Risky injecting was reduced without increasing (and if anything reducing) injecting frequency and cocaine use. Print publication 2004 [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
http://findings.org.uk/docs/nug_10_7.pdf
Alaskan needle exchanges passed an unusually stringent test of whether they improved on simply enabling injectors to buy equipment from pharmacies. Risky injecting was reduced without increasing (and if anything reducing) injecting frequency and cocaine use. Print publication 2004 [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
http://findings.org.uk/docs/nug_10_7.pdf
Friday, November 21, 2008
2009 Harm Reduction Conference - Update
Over the past few months, there has been a lot of hard work behind the scenes in planning for Harm Reduction 2009 – www.ihraconferences.net – and the Conference Director, Professor Gerry Stimson, has written an open letter to everyone interested in the event in order to update our colleagues on some of the significant developments.
http://www.ihra.net/Thailand/News#AnOpenLetterfromProfessorStimson,ConferenceDirector
http://www.ihra.net/Thailand/News#AnOpenLetterfromProfessorStimson,ConferenceDirector
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
