Asia
Regional Overview
Significant developments in policy and practice in parts of Asia have signalled a shift towards harm reduction in recent years. Over half the countries in this region now have some form of needle and syringe programme (NSP) provision and are prescribing opioid substitution therapy (OST) of some sort. However, coverage remains far below levels… Read more
Injecting Drug Use, HIV and Hepatitis C
The following maps and table outline the current available data on injecting drug use, as well as the prevalence of HIV and hepatitis C among injecting populations in Asia. The map below illustrates HIV prevalence among injecting drug users in countries and territories of the region. The following table provides the latest estimates of… Read more
Harm Reduction Policies
Many Asian countries have an explicit supportive reference to harm reduction in their national policies on HIV and/or drugs. These are illustrated in the map and table below. Although policy wording is not necessarily indicative of the implementation of effective harm reduction measures in a country, it does indicate governmental commitment to… Read more
Harm Reduction Programmes
Key harm reduction interventions (including needle and syringe exchange and opioid substitution therapy) are available in over half the countries in this region, as illustrated in the maps and table below. Crucially however, coverage is extremely low in the majority of countries. Most have fewer than ten sites where people can obtain sterile… Read more