|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
19th May 2009
|
Participation Certificates Now Available Online
|
For those who attended Harm Reduction 2009 in Bangkok last month, ‘Confirmation of Participation’ certificates can now be downloaded directly from the online registration system. These certificates are designed to support delegates by confirming that they were at the conference and therefore were part of this highly successful event in terms of their professional and personal development. The certificates also list any presentations that the person delivered at the conference.
In order to obtain your certificate, please log into the online registration system using your usual user name and password. Once you have logged in, please select ‘Confirmation of Participation’ from the options in the main menu. A PDF document will be automatically generated and downloaded for you to print. This can then be presented to your employer or kept in your records for future reference.
If you require any further assistance, please contact Joanna Szostakowska from the Conference Consortium.
|
 |
|
20th April 2009
|
IHRA Launch First Annual Report
|
At the Harm Reduction 2009 conference in Bangkok, IHRA has released its 2008 Annual Report. The report – which was launched at the IHRA Annual General Meeting on Monday 20th April – features commentary from Dr Mukta Sharma (the Chair of the Board of Directors) and Professor Gerry Stimson (the Executive Director) which review 2008. It also features a summary of IHRA’s programmes and activities – including the Global State of Harm Reduction publication and the Harm Reduction and Human Rights (HR2) programme. It also includes financial information and accounts for 2008.
|
 Click here to view the IHRA 2008 Annual Report [PDF:1MB]
|
|
|
7th April 2009
|
The Harm Reduction 2009 Conference DVD
|
 When you arrive at Harm Reduction 2009 and ‘check-in’, you will receive a conference pack of materials and information such as the conference programme book. In this pack, you will find a conference DVD which – for 2009 – is filled with more useful information and resources than ever before!
As with previous years, the Harm Reduction 2009 DVD will contain all of the abstracts that are being presented at the conference – as both a PDF ‘abstracts book’ and also as a searchable database. This will hopefully assist delegates in deciding which of the 60 sessions and 200 presentations to attend, and also act as useful reference tool for the future. A searchable abstract database can also be accessed via this website.
|
|
|
For Harm Reduction 2009, however, the DVD will also contain a large number of reports, resources and information from IHRA, the Conference Partners, and harm reduction networks from around the world. For example, IHRA have uploaded PDF copies of all of our reports and fact sheets to the DVD – including the Global State of Harm Reduction 2008 and all of the reports from the HR2 (Harm Reduction and Human Rights) programme. There are also a wide range of reports, posters, fact sheets and advocacy tools from the Asian Harm Reduction Network, the Canadian Harm Reduction Network, the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network, the Middle East and North Africa Harm Reduction Association, Population Services International, the sub-Saharan Africa Harm Reduction Network, the US Harm Reduction Coalition, and Youth RISE!
We would urge all delegates to make sure that they keep hold of their conference DVDs this year and make the most of the resources that are available.
|
|
|
6th April 2009
|
Final Programme, Abstract Book and Abstract Database Now Available
|
The conference organisers and the Executive Programme Committee are pleased to announce that the final conference programme is now available to download – containing detailed information about over 60 conference sessions and over 200 speakers. Once again, the programme is full of engaging presentations, and covers our broadest ever range of topics at an IHRA event. We hope that there is a lot in the programme for all of our delegates to enjoy.
|
Click here to view the Harm Reduction 2009 Conference Programme [PDF:790KB]
|
Click here to view the Harm Reduction 2009 Film Festival Programme [PDF:388KB]
|
Click here to view the Harm Reduction 2009 Workshop Programme [PDF:1.55MB]
|
To accompany the programme, and assist delegates in planning their experience at the conference, an Abstract Book and a searchable database of abstracts have been created. We strongly advise delegates to use these resources and the programme to prepare ahead of their visit to Bangkok. The abstracts will also be available on the conference DVD in every delegate pack at the event.
|
Click here to view the Harm Reduction 2009 Abstract Book [PDF:1.43MB]
|
|
|
|
|
18th March 2009
|
Special Offer from the Imperial Queens Park Hotel
|
The Imperial Queens Park Hotel - the conference venue and the official conference hotel – is offering delegates free internet access for the duration of their stay. In order to qualify for this offer, please book and pay for your accommodation before March 31st 2009 via the dedicated online booking service for Harm Reduction 2009 – www.ihra-hoteltravel.com. Regrettably, we are unable to offer an internet cafe to delegates at this year’s conference (due to space restrictions), but hope that this offer helps to compensate for this.
|
|
|
|
|
|
18th March 2009
|
Craig McClure from International AIDS Society to Deliver Keynote Speech
|
 IHRA are pleased to announce that Craig McClure – the Executive Director of the International AIDS Society – will present a keynote speech at the Closing Session of Harm Reduction 2009: IHRA’s 20th International Conference on Thursday 23rd April. In the speech, Craig McClure will reflect on the past five years in his current position, and the evolving status of harm reduction and injecting drug use within the global response to HIV response. Craig is leaving his post at the International AIDS Society at the end of the year, so this keynote speech is an excellent opportunity to gain some insight into the politics of HIV.
Outside of sub-Saharan Africa, nearly a third of all people living with HIV were infected through injecting drug use. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, close to 70% of all new HIV infections are related to injecting. We are now twenty-seven years into the global HIV epidemic and – finally – all of the international normative agencies working on health and HIV have endorsed a comprehensive set of harm reduction interventions to prevent HIV infection and ensure treatment, care and support to injecting drug users living with HIV (including WHO, UNAIDS and UNODC). Sadly, international drug policy, as outlined in the Political Declaration on Drugs (which was agreed at the 52nd Session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in March 2009) does not endorse harm reduction approaches for drug users. There is now a greater political chasm than ever before between those focused on the public health and HIV-related implications of drug use, and those focused on drug control through supply and demand reduction. This inconsistency within the UN system raises urgent questions about the lack of coherence in the UN response to HIV/AIDS and drug use.
Craig McClure has been the Executive Director of the International AIDS Society since 2004. He is also the Co-Chair of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia AIDS Conference (EECAAC), and a member of the Global HIV Prevention Working Group since 2007. He has worked in the field of HIV/AIDS for 15 years, primarily in the areas of policy, advocacy and education, and he played a central role at the WHO as a member of the coordination team for the development of the ‘3 by 5’ Strategy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13th March 2009
|
Global Fund Announce ‘Dialogue Space’ at Harm Reduction 2009
|
 The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria are sponsoring a large ‘Dialogue Space’ in the exhibition area of Harm Reduction 2009: IHRA’s 20th International Conference (20th – 23rd April; Bangkok, Thailand). The aim of this space is to provide conference delegates with the opportunity to engage in the sharing of information, opinions and dynamic dialogue to address issues of harm reduction and HIV/AIDS. The space will provide local and regional voices with an invaluable global platform, and even the chance to meet the Executive Director of the Global Fund – Professor Michel Kazatchkine.
The ‘Dialogue Space’ will be an area for grassroots organisations and civil society to meet, gain access to, and enter into dialogue with, the relevant international stakeholders. Topics for discussion will include how these stakeholders can work in partnership to support locally-driven community development efforts that respond to the major contemporary issues in the harm reduction world – including the gap between the UN High Level Political Declaration on Drugs (due in March 2009), and the realities of addiction and drug use.
This initiative will focus on:
|
Celebrating Success and Sharing Knowledge: Providing a platform for the transfer of innovative harm reduction knowledge, with specific focus on the sharing of best practices – including future challenges and directions.
Informing Policy and Building Bridges Between Key Stakeholders: The space will involve a broad range of participants from all global sectors, starting from HIV/AIDS, human rights and drug user advocates and including politicians and government officials, front-line workers, people working in criminal justice, law enforcement personnel, researchers and scientists. It will aim to enhance advocacy in the region for harm reduction and public health approaches to reducing drug-related harms while raising awareness of human rights issues related to psychoactive drug use and harm reduction.
|
|
|
|
|
3rd March 2009
|
Regional Focus in the Conference Programme
|
Since 1990, the IHRA conferences have been held in thirteen different countries and five different continents around the world. Every year, the Executive Programme Committee aims to create a conference programme with global appeal, but also one which reflects the issues and developments in the host country and the host region. As such, the conference is an ideal way for local NGOs and governments to promote their work and discuss their experiences with delegates from around the world. At Harm Reduction 2009: IHRA’s 20th International Conference, there will be a number of sessions showcasing harm reduction approaches and challenges in Thailand and Asia – as well as Thai and Asian presentations in many of the global sessions.
On Monday 20th April, after an Opening Session including welcome addresses from Thai dignitaries and community representatives, there will be a Plenary Session on ‘Injecting Drug Use and HIV: A Comprehensive Review of the Situation and Response in Asia’. This will be followed after lunch by a Concurrent Session organised by the Asian Harm Reduction Network which will feedback from the ‘Response Beyond Borders’ Asian consultation on HIV and drugs in Goa in January 2008.
On Tuesday 21st April there will be a Major Session on ‘Methamphetamine Use in South East Asia’, which will bring together the latest research from the region and discuss its implications for existing law enforcement and public health approaches. This will be followed by two regional Concurrent Sessions, one after the other. Firstly, ‘Harm Reduction in Thailand’ will cover issues and work from across the host country – including drug user access to health care in Southern Thailand, syringe sharing in Bangkok, community based pharmacies, and opioid substitution treatment in rural Northern Thailand. This will be followed by a session on ‘Harm Reduction in Asia’, which will cover topics such as the response to epidemics amongst injecting drug users, hepatitis C and HIV co-infections, the decade-old harm reduction programme in Bangladesh, and targeted HIV prevention for drug users in Viet Nam.
On Wednesday 21st April, there will be a Parliamentary Pane – organised by the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) – which will examine issues related to the decriminalisation of drug use, share positive experiences from countries around the world and try to influence and encourage Asian parliamentarians to develop new approaches towards drugs. This will be followed after lunch by a Concurrent Session on ‘Drug User Organising in Asia’, co-ordinated by the International Network of People who Use Drugs and featuring presentations from Indonesia, China and India.
On the closing day – Thursday 23rd April – there will be a Major Session on drinking patterns across Asia, organised by the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP) to showcase research from China, South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand.
|
|
|
|
|
|
3rd March 2009
|
United Nations Human Rights Agency Supports Harm Reduction 2009
|
The United Nations Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has joined the long list of Supporting Organisations for Harm Reduction 2009: IHRA’s 20th International Conference in Bangkok, Thailand in April. OHCHR is the United Nations agency with the unique mandate from the international community to promote and protect all human rights.
The announcement from OHCHR now means that all of the relevant UN organisations formally support the conference in Thailand – including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the World Health Organization.
In their letter to IHRA confirming their support, the OHCHR commented that “The human rights aspects of drug use and drug control are increasingly gaining the attention of the international human rights community, including the United Nations human rights mechanisms”. This is due in no small part to the work of IHRA’s HR2 (Harm Reduction and Human Rights) programme.
The theme for the conference this year is Harm Reduction and Human Rights so it is a great honour to have the support of OHCHR as well as the other UN agencies, the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD), the International AIDS Society, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, the Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group (TTAG) and a number of regional harm reduction networks.
|
|
|
|
|
|
3rd March 2009
|
Conference Activities on Sunday 19th April
|
Although the conference officially opens in the morning of Monday 20th April, we strongly recommend that delegates plan to arrive in Bangkok in time for Sunday 19th April in order to take advantage of a range of additional services, events and benefits.
Firstly, delegates are urged to register, check-in and pick up their delegate packs from the conference venue on the Sunday in order to avoid the large queues that are likely to occur when the conference formally opens on the following day. The check-in and registration desks will be open on Sunday from 10am to 4pm on Sunday, and we strongly recommend that delegates plan to arrive in time for this. Delegates will not be allowed access to any of the conference areas or sessions unless they have checked in and received their delegate badges.
Secondly, there will be a number of satellite events and side meetings in Bangkok on the Sunday. These meetings are organised separately to the main conference programme by a range of organisations and cover a broad mix of topics. More details of these meetings will be made available on the additional meetings page of the conference website as soon as possible.
Finally, there will also be a welcome reception from 6pm to 8pm on Sunday evening for delegates who have checked-in. This will provide an early opportunity for you to network, meet new people and renew old acquaintances before the conference begins.
|
When making arrangements and booking travel for Bangkok, you may also want to look at the following information:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We look forward to welcoming you to Thailand.
|
|
|
19th February 2009
|
Asian Parliamentarians to Discuss the Decriminalisation of Drug Use at Harm Reduction 2009
|
 At Harm Reduction 2009, the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) – in cooperation with UNAIDS – will organise a panel of parliamentarians to examine various issues related to the decriminalisation of drug use and wider debates on this issue. The session will share the positive experiences of some European countries in terms of drug decriminalisation in the hope of influencing and informing Asian parliamentarians and governments and encouraging them to develop new policies and more tolerant and realistic approaches towards drugs.
Asia has been dealing with psychoactive substances – such as heroin and cocaine – for many years, and has long faced the problems associated with the drug trade in terms of the health and safety of its population. Today, most of the Asian governments have committed to combat this problem – with the “War on Drugs” approach becoming the normal practice among nations. This is despite the persistent record of ineffectiveness and negative consequences that this approach has. There is a wide range of evidence against this approach – not least the increasing number of drug-related incarcerations across Asia each year.
As a result of the failure of existing drug policies, numerous academics and advocates have been lobbying Asian governments to pay more attention to the decriminalisation of drug users – one of the most profound ways to eliminate drug-related harms to society. It is strongly suggested that, if Asian governments adopt these more rational approach, problems such as drug trafficking, organised crime, HIV/AIDS and the violation of human rights would be also decreased.
Drug use can leave a well documented trail of destruction and damage, not only to the drug user but also to their families and the wider community. Yet politicians are very reluctant to discuss and debate this issue. Given the widespread ignorance about drug use, it is not surprising that parliamentarians generally feel fearful of the public reaction to decriminalisation. However, in certain cases where medical approaches have been properly implemented, their public acceptance has been forthcoming – and this could be extended to selective decriminalisation efforts when the benefits are apparent and are properly explained.
|
|
|
|
|
18th February 2009
|
Professor Michel Kazatchkine to Deliver Keynote Speech
|
 IHRA are pleased to announce that Professor Michel Kazatchkine – the Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – will be presenting the keynote Rolleston Oration at Harm Reduction 2009: IHRA’s 20th International Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Professor Kazatchkine will speak in the Opening Session on Monday 20th April about the Global Fund’s worldwide support for harm reduction interventions and policies.
Professor Kazatchkine has spent the past 25 years fighting AIDS as a leading physician, researcher, administrator, advocate, policy maker, and diplomat. He attended medical school at Necker-Enfants-Malades in Paris, studied immunology at the Pasteur Institute, and has completed postdoctoral fellowships at St Mary’s Hospital in London and the Harvard Medical School. His involvement with HIV began in 1983, when, as a young clinical immunologist, he treated a French couple who had returned from Africa with unexplained fever and severe immune deficiency. By 1985, he had started a clinic in Paris specialising in AIDS – which now treats over 1,600 people a year – and, three years later, he opened the first night clinic for people with HIV in Paris, making it possible for them to obtain confidential health care outside of working hours. Prior to his appointment by the Global Fund in 2007, Professor Kazatchkine was Professor of Immunology at Université René Descartes and Head of the Immunology Unit of the Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris.
Over the years, Professor Kazatchkine has been a courageous and strong advocate for harm reduction and evidence-based policies that protect vulnerable populations such as people who use drugs. He has consistently demonstrated support and leadership for harm reduction, so it is fitting that he is now Executive Director of the multilateral agency with the best record in terms of supporting and resourcing harm reduction interventions. The Global Fund are a key part of the global response to drug-related HIV, and have recently announced a substantial funding programme in Thailand to rejuvenate the country’s drug policy and strengthen harm reduction interventions. In addition to this keynote address, the Global Fund will also be hosting a lunchtime meeting on Monday 20th April detailing their activities and commitments to harm reduction.
Professor Kazatchkine has been involved with the Global Fund since it was established – chairing the Technical Review Panel from 2002 to 2005, and also serving as a Board member and Vice-Chair of the Board. In February 2007, he was elected as the new Executive Director of the organisation – an appointment that was widely endorsed and welcomed by civil society and harm reduction organisations. He has also authored or co-authored over 500 articles in peer reviewed journals and has played key roles in various organisations such as the National Agency for Research on AIDS in France and the World Health Organization. He was also the French Ambassador on HIV/AIDS and Communicable Diseases from 2005 to 2007.
|
|
|
16th February 2009
|
Korsang (Cambodia) Announce Large Delegation to Thailand
|
Korsang – Cambodia’s only harm reduction programme – has recently announced that it is bringing 28 staff, peer educators and people who use drugs to Harm Reduction 2009: IHRA’s 20th International Conference in Bangkok, Thailand in April. The Korsang staff are mainly comprised of current and former drug users, and the organisation works tirelessly to ensure the reduction of HIV and drug-related harm in Cambodia.
Korsang is dedicated to:
|
- Delivering quality harm reduction education and health related services to injection drug users
- Treating each participant with the highest level of dignity, compassion and respect
- Providing people who use drugs with a safe non-judgemental and caring ‘drop-in centre’
- Providing harm reduction education and services on an outreach basis
- Offering accommodation to 40-60 drug users every night
- Providing medical care for participants onsite
- Advocating for proper, ethical medical care and human rights for people who use drugs
- Offering specialist services for women drug users and their children
- Providing substitution therapies (starting in Summer 2009)
-
|
|
The majority of the Korsang group attending the conference have either never been out of Cambodia or have never attended an international event of this kind. The main objective of this delegation is to inform the 1,000 other attendees from around the world about the needs and struggles of Cambodia’s drug users. Korsang will also be presenting in the conference programme.
According to Holly Bradford, the Director of Korsang, “This event will give Korsang the opportunity to feel the unity of the global harm reduction community and to meet their brothers and sisters in the international harm reduction movement. Part of our entourage is a hip hop group made up of Khmer drug users – called ‘Kormix’ – which has helped some drug users to become former drug users. The music they produce has an educational flavour aimed at sharing HIV prevention messages to the young adults of Cambodia, and they are looking forward to rocking the house at one or more of the conference events”.
|
|
|
Click images to view larger
|
