The Health Committee encourage all delegates to review this page frequently as important updates will be made from time to time.
|
Since 1990, IHRA’s annual international harm reduction conferences have been attended by thousands of delegates from a wide range of backgrounds. As such, the Conference Organisers are keen to ensure that they provide and facilitate proper care for delegates who may have special medical and healthcare needs - especially delegates who use or have used drugs. In order to do this, a Health Committee is appointed each year consisting of local and international healthcare professionals and drug user activists. This page provides details of the facilities that will be made available at Harm Reduction 2008 in Barcelona. To contact the Medical Committee, or for more information, please contact Jimi Grieve.
|
General Medical and Healthcare Facilities
|
Information for all Delegates
|
Information for Delegates on Opioid Substitution Treatment
|
Information for Delegates on Other Medical Treatments
|
Information for Active Drug Users
|
General Medical and Healthcare Facilities
|
The Health Committee for Harm Reduction 2008 are committed to providing access to the following services and facilities for the conference:
• A Medical Room on site with healthcare professionals from SEM (the Medical Emergency System of Catalonia). This room will contain the necessary equipment for attending to emergencies. There will be a permanent team of healthcare professionals, as well as a mobile team (or “Advanced Support Unit”) – which will be responsible for assisting with any transfers from the venue to local hospitals and will provide support to any delegates who may require medical assistance.
|
• A harm reduction service for people who use drugs, which will provide:
|
a. Easy, facilitated access and referrals to Barcelona’s drug treatment centres or to a drug specialist if necessary.
|
b. Easy, facilitated access and referrals to the two supervised drug consumption rooms near to the conference venue. These facilities are 15 to 20 minutes away on foot, or 5 to 10 minutes away by Metro.
|
c. A needle and syringe exchange service, which will operate from a purpose-built room on level 0 of the conference venue. This service will open from 08:30 to 09:00 (Monday 12th to Thursday 15th May 2008) and during the lunch break (13:00 to 14:00) and the afternoon coffee break (15:45 – 16:15) on Monday 12th, Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th May 2008. The needle exchange will provide an extensive range of sterile drug use equipment including different types of syringes and needles, cookers, filters, tourniquets, sterile water, cotton swabs, aluminium foil and the means to dispose of used equipment safely. It will be staffed by volunteers (mainly from the International Nursing and Harm Reduction Network who will also be able provide advice and guidance.
|
It is of the up-most importance that those who use this facility do so responsibly, do not inject in the conference venue and do not discard their used equipment in an unsafe way. In light of such incidents at previous conferences, such behaviour will seriously jeopardise the continued provision of harm reduction services at the IHRA conferences.
|
• A 24 Hour Hotline for Medical Emergencies available in four languages (Catalan, Spanish, English and French). The number for this service is 061. There will also be a 24 Hour General Healthcare Helpline available in several languages for general medical enquiries. The number for this service is 902 111 444 (“Sanitat Respon”).
|
Information for all Delegates
|
• All conference delegates should arrange their own health and travel insurance in advance of their journey to Barcelona, and should ensure that they have the appropriate documentation with them at the conference.
• All conference delegates who are undertaking any kind of medical treatment should bring a medical record from their doctor (in English, Spanish or Catalan) specifying their conditions and the treatment they are following. This will make things much easier in the event of unexpected circumstances (such as the medication being mislaid or requiring urgent medical care).
• In addition, all conference delegates who are undertaking any kind of medical treatment are encouraged to arrange and bring their own medication in enough quantity for covering their treatment during the days that they will be in Barcelona.
|
Information for Delegates on Opioid Substitution Treatment
|
Conference delegates who are receiving Opioid Substitution Treatment have two general options:
|
1. Bring their own medication to Barcelona
|
2. Request to have their treatment provided during their stay in BarcelonaOption 1 - Bring their own medication to Barcelona from their own country.
Patients should hold a medical prescription from their doctor or a permit issued by the authorities from their home country certifying the legal possession of the medicine. In order to determine which of these two documents will be necessary, please consult with your local authorities for advice. This documentation will be enough whilst entering into Spain, unless the amount of substitution medication being carried by the delegate surpasses the level established by the United Nations (see below).
It is very unlikely that any conference delegate under a standard substitution treatment regime will surpass the UN limits. If, however, the total amount of medicine required does surpass the UN limit - see www.incb.org/incb/en/guidelines_travellers.html - the patient must request a “permit for the introduction of narcotics and/or psychotropic drugs for personal medical treatment”, which will be issued by the Spanish Drug Agency via the Spanish Consulate or Embassy in the delegate’s home country. In order to obtain such a permit, delegates should apply directly to their Spanish Consulate or Embassy. Applications must include documentation showing the need for the delegate to undertake the treatment, details of the medicine required, and details of the daily dose of medication - all validated by the relevant local authority. The Spanish Consulate or Embassy will then be responsible for this procedure with the Spanish Drug Agency. If this permit is required, it is recommended that delegates provide documentation and start the procedure as soon as possible - and well in advance of the conference.
|
At the time of writing, the UN Limits – or ‘Maximum Quantities’ – were:
• Methadone (in base form presentation carried by the traveller*) - 2 grams
• Buprenorphine (in base form presentation) - 300 milligrams
• Morphine (in base form presentation) - 3 grams
* ‘Base form presentation’ refers to ‘base methadone’ which is different from the ‘chlorhydrate methadone’ regularly used in substitution treatments. In order to calculate the base form methadone quantity, multiply the amount of chlorhydrate methadone by 0.9. For support with this process, please contact Jimi Grieve.
|
Please note that, under all circumstances and regardless of the quantity, the amount of medicine that will be authorised will correspond to 30 days of treatment - even if the planned trip has a longer duration.
|
Option 2 - Request to have their treatment provided during their stay in Barcelona
|
This option should only be taken if ‘Option 1’ is not possible. In order to request treatment provision in Spain, the patients must send a medical record from their physician (in English, Spanish or Catalan) by email to Xavier Major MD. Alternatively, medical records can be sent via fax to + (00) 34 93 5517 514 - although we recommend that you contact Xavier Major by email or telephone (+ (00) 34 93 5513 605) to confirm that the fax has been received.
The medical record must include the following information:
• The patient’s contact details
• The doctor’s contact details
• The generic name of the ‘racemic’ (or ‘racemate’) methadone
• The current daily dosage (mg per day)
• How many days the patient will need the treatment for
• The exact dates that the patient will need the treatment for (day of first dosage and day of last dosage)
• A stamp and signature from the doctor
|
This information must be received by 25th April 2008 in order for the requests to be processed.
|
Please note that only methadone in solution can be provided in Barcelona. Buprenorphine, injectable methadone and diamorphine cannot be provided. The methadone that is available in Spain (as in most countries) is ‘racemic methadone’ - which is comprised of dextro-levo-methadone. ‘Levo-methadone’ (also known as L-Polamidon or L-methadone) will not be available at the conference. Delegates treated with Levo-methadone (such as those from Germany) should switch their treatment to racemic methadone in Germany before travelling to the conference should they desire to receive treatment in Barcelona.
|
Information for Delegates on Other Medical Treatments
|
Delegates who are receiving other medical treatments (such as treatment for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, Tuberculosis or sexually transmitted diseases), and who cannot bring their own medication to Barcelona for whatever reasons, should send a medical record from their physician (in English, Spanish or Catalan) by email to Xavier Major MD. Alternatively, medical records can be sent via fax to + (00) 34 93 5517 514 - although we recommend that you contact Xavier Major by email or telephone (+ (00) 34 93 5513 605) to confirm that the fax has been received.
|
The medical record should contain information about the treatment. The required arrangements will then be made, if possible, to provide the necessary medication for the conference. Participants in this situation must have (and be able to prove) valid health insurance to cover their treatment.
|
This information must be received by 25th April 2008 in order for the requests to be processed.
|
Delegates who are HIV-positive or HCV-positive, and not already in treatment for these diseases in their own country, cannot be provided with ARV or antiviral treatments in Spain.
|
Information for Active Drug Users
|
In Spain, alcohol and tobacco are legal (although there are limitations regarding purchasing and consumption), but all other psychoactive drugs are illegal. Trafficking or supplying drugs is a criminal offence and carries potential prison sentences. The possession of drugs for personal use, consumption of drugs in public places, and disposal of syringes and paraphernalia in public areas is not allowed– and is punishable with a fine (between €300 and €30,000). All conference participants must respect the laws of the host country and no responsibility can be taken by the conference organisers if these laws are broken.
If you have any questions regarding the information above, or would like to contact the Health Committee, please contact Jimi Grieve
|
|
