Harm reduction is a set of strategies
that aim to reduce negative consequences of drug use, by mitigating the
potential dangers and health risks. UNODC has significantly expanded its
HIV/AIDS programme thanks to support from harm reduction-friendly donor
countries, despite ambiguities on the issue within UN drug control agencies. There
is a need for up-scaling of basic services for HIV/AIDS prevention and the 'frontline' of heroin prescription and drug consumption rooms. Could the 2008
CND or the 2009 Ministerial Meeting be the opportune moment to end ambiguity
and to achieve full acceptance at the UN drug control agencies of harm
reduction practices? What more can be done so improve UN
system-wide coherence on the harm reduction issue?
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The Vienna Declaration |
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The Vienna Declaration is a statement seeking to improve community
health and safety by calling for the incorporation of scientific
evidence into illicit drug policies. We are inviting scientists, health
practitioners and the public to endorse this document in order to bring
these issues to the attention of governments and international
agencies, and to illustrate that drug policy reform is a matter of
urgent international significance. We also welcome organizational
endorsements.
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At What Cost? |
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HIV and Human Rights Consequences of the Global "War on Drugs"
March 2009
A decade after governments worldwide pledged to achieve a "drug-free
world," there is little evidence that the supply or demand of illicit
drugs has been reduced. Instead, aggressive drug control policies have
led to increased incarceration for minor offenses, human rights
violations, and disease.
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Human Rights, Health and Harm Reduction |
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Human Rights, Health and Harm Reduction: States Amnesia and Parallel Universes is the transcript of a keynote speech delivered by Professor Paul Hunt (then UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health). The speech focused on human rights and drug policy and contained some of the strongest comments to date from a UN human rights expert both in favour of harm reduction and against drug policies at the international and national levels that violate the rights of people who use drugs.
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Harm Reduction and Human Rights |
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IHRAs HR2 programme released a report entitled Harm Reduction and Human Rights: The Global Response to Drug-Related HIV Epidemics. The report provides a concise overview of the global situation in terms of drug-related HIV epidemics worldwide, with a particular focus on the regions of Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub Saharan Africa.
Harm Reduction and Human Rights
The Global Response to Drug-Related HIV Epidemics
HR2 - Harm Reduction and Human Rights
January 2009
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International Support for Harm Reduction |
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An overview of multi-lateral endorsement of harm reduction policy and practice
International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA) & Human Rights Watch (HRW)
January 2009
A useful overview of UN endorsement of harm reduction measures; the legality of harm reduction services under the Drug Conventions; the obligation in human rights law to ensure access to harm reduction services and the global state of harm reduction, listing 82 countries and territories worldwide that presently support or tolerate harm reduction.
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The INCB on Harm Reduction |
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Catching Up, or Holding Back?
March 2008
As in years past, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)
highlights the problem of HIV epidemics fuelled by injection drug use
in its 2007 annual report. The phrase harm reduction is used in the report without scare quotes but the Board cannot refrain from sounding cautionary notes.
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The UN and Harm Reduction - Revisited |
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An unauthorised report on the outcomes of the 48th CND session
TNI Drug Policy Briefing 13, April 2005
The US pressure on the UNODC to withdraw support from needle exchange and other harm
reduction approaches backfired at the 48th session of the CND in March 2005. Delegates from around the globe stood up to defend the overwhelming
evidence that harm reduction measures are effective against the spread of
HIV/AIDS. In this briefing TNI analyses the
proceedings and results of the CND meeting in Vienna in March 2005, and outlines
several options for follow-up and recommends next steps to take.
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