Harm Reduction

Since 1990, IHRA’s annual international harm reduction conferences (formerly known as the ‘International Conferences on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm’) have grown in importance and become t

Join us for a two-part celebration of VANDU's first decade.

At the same time as the UN High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, please join us for a rally against the Thai Drug War and for humane treatment of drug users, including harm reduction. Speakers will include: * representatives of Thai civil society participating in the UN High Level Meeting * US and international drug-user activists * others, to be determined In 2003, the Thai government escalated their drug war, and it led to the extrajudicial killing of almost 3,000 Thai citizens, half of whom were never found to have any connection to drugs. On April 2, 2008, the drug war was escalated again. The interior minister of Thailand was quoted as saying, "...for drug dealers, if they do not want to die, they had better quit staying on that road. Drugs suppression in my time as interior minister will follow the approach of Thaksin [former Thai Prime Minister]. If that will lead to 3,000-4,000 deaths of those who break the law, then so be it. That has to be done." Additionally, 50% of injection drug users in Thailand are HIV+, and are being denied access to lifesaving treatment and comprehensive harm reduction services, including clean needles. UN member countries have committed time and again to Universal Access to HIV treatment. The escalation of the drug war will help fuel the HIV epidemic by driving drug users away from lifesaving care while doing little to stem drug use. No death as a result of the Thai drug war is acceptable. The Thai government must stop the murder of Thai drug users and immediately prosecute state criminals responsible for past violations! *This action is sponsored by: African Services Committee, Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP), Harm Reduction Coaltion, Health GAP, NYC AIDS Housing Network/VOCAL User¹s Union, Physicians for Human Rights, and the Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group More information: Kaytee Riek, Health GAP ([email protected] or 215-397-4326).

This one day training will provide an overview of the impact of HIV/AIDS on women in the United States and globally, with a special emphasis on the disproportionate impact on women of color. The facilitators will engage participants in an interactive format that will include a review of the epidemic, treatment issues and prevention strategies, including social and economic barriers to both, and gaps in the research and services. At the conclusion of the training, participants will be able to apply what they learned in their own work settings.

Heroin (and other opioid) overdoses are a common cause of death among users, yet these deaths are often preventable through education, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and when possible, through the administration of naloxone (Narcan). In this workshop, participants will start by learning the essentials of preventing opioid overdose deaths including prevention, recognition, and action. Participants will receive certification as Trained Overdose Responders and become qualified to train heroin or opioid users and colleagues at their own facilities how to prevent an overdose. Please note that this training is geared towards individuals who will be participating in or setting up their own Opiate Overdose Prevention training progam in their agencies. Participants will learn about how to implement a NYSDOH-approved program with support from the Harm Reduction Coalition.

Beginning with an overview of mental disorders, this workshop will focus specifically on clients with co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse. This workshop will emphasize the application of harm reduction principles in identification and intervention along a continuum of risk. The training will also guide service providers in determining effective harm reduction responses that are attentive to the realities of clients' lives, provider skill level, and agency mandate.

This panel seeks to provide an overview of the issues and challenges to the policies of harm reduction, both globally and domestically, with the goal of fostering discussion and reflection as to how we can advance this work in meaningful and effective ways. Although the focus will be on harm reduction policies specific to drug use, the panel will also explore the main tenets of harm reduction as applicable to other areas of public health.

This event is sponsored by Drug Policy Alliance. It is presented by the Association for Harm Reduction Therapy in partnership with the Harm Reduction Therapy Center and the Harm Reduction Therapy and Training Associates.

The fabric of Hawai‘i is threatened by a host of interrelated social problems including mental health, drug misuse, communicable diseases, poverty, homelessness, and the over-reliance on incarceration. Youth, women, Native Hawaiians, and sexual minorities are impacted in unique ways.

Please join us for Part VIII of Intersections in the War on Drugs, A FREE Summer Video and Speaker Series. VIDEO: To Do No Harm SPEAKER: Charles Sessoms, DC Health Department Brown bag lunch series, beverages provided. For more information contact: Aaron Sundquist (202) 234-9382.