Please keep checking this page, as it will be updated on a regular basis as new information is available.
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Services Available
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Medical Committee
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General Advice for All Delegates
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Medical Information for People who Use Drugs
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Services Available
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Each year, the conference organisers work hard to ensure that they facilitate appropriate treatment and care for delegates who may have specific medical and health care needs – including delegates who use or have used drugs, as well as those with sudden or acute primary health care problems.
For Harm Reduction 2010 in Liverpool, England:
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- The importation of methadone and buprenorphine will be allowed.
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- For those who are unable to import their medications, substitute prescribing for the continuation of a pre-existing treatment regime may be available for delegates at a location close to the conference venue – subject to an individual assessment and presentation of the appropriate documentation (see below).
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- Other harm reduction services and supplies will be available from locations close to the conference venue.
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Please note that there will be no new initiation of treatments for delegates (i.e. if you are not currently receiving substitution therapy in your home country, then you will not be able to start this treatment in the UK).
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Delegates wishing to import their medication or continue it whilst in the UK must contact Gill Bradbury as soon as possible.
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Medical Committee
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Since 1990, the International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA) has held annual conferences around the world, which have been attended by thousands of delegates from a wide range of backgrounds. Each year, the conference organisers establish a ‘Medical Committee’ of local and international health care professionals and drug user activists in order to ensure the best possible provision of care for our delegates.
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General Advice for All Delegates
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- All conference delegates should arrange their own health and travel insurance in advance of their journey to the UK and should ensure that they have the appropriate documentation with them at the conference.
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- All conference delegates who are receiving any kind of medical treatment should bring a medical record from their doctor – written clearly in English – which specifies their medical condition and the treatment regime that they are following. This document should include information on the medication type and the daily dose, plus the total dose being carried to the UK for your visit. Having this document will make things much easier in the event of any unexpected circumstances such as medical care being required or medication being mislaid.
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- All conference delegates who are undertaking any kind of medical treatment should also endeavour to arrange sufficient medication to cover all of their treatment during the days that they will be in the UK.
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- Emergency medical services will not be available on site but treatment and care will be facilitated at nearby services in Liverpool.
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Medical Information for People who Use Drugs
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Importation of Medication
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The importation of controlled drugs – such as methadone and buprenorphine – into the UK is permitted, providing there is an accompanying doctor’s letter. This letter must be signed, written in English, and include the patient’s name and date of birth, the doctor’s name, the medication type, the dose required, and the total amount being carried into the UK.
A license is not required in the UK as long as the total dose imported does not exceed that required for three months of personal supply.
All medication must be carried in the original packaging with any labels left intact. It should also be carried within hand luggage.
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Delegates wishing to import their medication or continue it whilst in the UK must contact Gill Bradbury as soon as possible.
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The UK Home Office has informed us that delegates will not have to declare their medication on arrival into the UK. If requested by the authorities, you will need to present the doctor’s letter described above. However, as a further precaution, we strongly recommend that you use the ‘certificate for the carrying by travellers under treatment of medical preparations containing narcotic drugs and/or psychotropic substances’, which has been prepared by the International Narcotics Control Board. We recommend that delegates print off the certificate and ask their local doctor to complete it, as well as supplying them with the letter as detailed above. You should then carry one copy with you whilst travelling. If you wish, you can also email a copy to the Medical Committee as an additional precaution (please mark your email ‘For the attention of Gill Bradbury’).
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Any information supplied to the Medical Committee will be kept in confidence, will only be available to the conference medical staff, and will be destroyed after the conference.
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Prescribing and Dispensing in Liverpool
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There will be no medical or prescribing services on-site. However, there will be opportunities for interim treatment provision by a local agency close to the conference venue, and under the following strict criteria:
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- This service is only for people who are being prescribed treatment in their country of origin but whom are unable to import their medication. As such, there will be no initiation of new treatment regimes.
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- Delegates who are already in treatment but who will require continuation in the UK must inform the Medical Committee prior to the conference by contacting Gill Bradbury and supplying a doctor’s letter in advance.
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- Please also carry a copy of your doctor’s letter with you in your hand luggage when travelling – in case of a problem at customs control.
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Please keep checking this page, as it will be updated on a regular basis as new information is available.
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