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Overview
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Harm Reduction 2008: IHRA’s 19th International Conference took place from 11th – 15th May 2008 in Barcelona, Spain. The conference was, once again, very successful - attracting 1,280 people from around 80 different countries around the world. Amongst the delegates were senior UN officials, national and international policy makers, leading drug user activists, front-line workers and researchers. In total, there were around 70 sessions over five days, covering a range of different topics – in keeping with the conference theme, ‘Towards a Global Approach’. Overall, there were 250 presentations and 300 poster exhibits.
On Sunday 11th May, the conference was opened with a keynote address by Professor Paul Hunt (the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to the Health), who delivered a strong statement on harm reduction and human rights and described the lack of regard for human rights in the international drug control system as ‘bizarre’ and ‘inexcusable’. He concluded his speech by urging harm reduction, drug policy advocates and drug user activists to incorporate UN human rights mechanisms and monitors into their work.
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Monday 12th May began with the first ‘Plenary Session’, which aimed to present the ‘Global State of Harm Reduction’ (with speakers from Africa, Australia, Europe, and Latin America), introduce some of the general themes for the conference, and launch IHRA’s ‘Global State of Harm Reduction’ report. This session was followed by three ‘Major Sessions’ covering harm reduction in Spain, hepatitis C, and harm reduction research. After lunch, there was a high profile ‘Double Concurrent Session’ in the afternoon on ‘Universal Access to HIV Prevention and Treatment for Drug Users’, which was supported by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The afternoon programme also included sessions on cannabis, prisons, substitution treatment, advocacy, and research on HIV risks. There was also a lively early-evening session debating the evidence behind ‘Ibogaine’ as a drug treatment.
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Tuesday 13th May opened with a multi-media ‘Plenary Session’ on gender issues in harm reduction, which incorporated video footage with questions to a panel of speakers from around the world. This was followed by ‘Major Sessions’ on gender barriers, alcohol harm reduction, and ‘Discrimination Versus Rights’ (a ‘Users Choice’ session organised by INPUD). The afternoon programme included a lunchtime session on tuberculosis and HIV (supported by the World Health Organization, UNAIDS and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), ‘Concurrent Sessions’ on young people, overdose prevention, alcohol, tobacco and research on drug use prevalence, and an early evening session on drug consumption rooms around the world.
On Wednesday 14th May, there was a ‘Plenary Session’ and a ‘Major Session’ on human rights and harm reduction. The rest of the day’s programme included sessions on hidden harms, stimulant drugs, engaging the police, prisons, antiretroviral treatments for injecting drug users, ethno-epidemiology and tobacco. There were also two afternoon sessions on harm reduction and commercial sex work, highlighting peer-led best practice in this field and the harms of the prohibition of sex work.
The final day, Thursday 15th May, opened with a keynote address from Antonio Maria Costa (the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), who stated that health was the ‘first principle’ of the international drug conventions, and called for a focus on harm reduction, health responses and human rights. This was followed by the final three ‘Major Sessions’ on nursing and harm reduction, crack cocaine, and harm reduction research, and the ‘Closing Session’ in which the IHRA Awards were presented.
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Programme & Abstracts
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 Click Here to View the Conference Book and Programme [PDF:981KB]
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Conference Newsletters
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The ‘Daily Update’ newsletters at the conference are designed to keep delegates up-to-date with the latest developments and announcements from the conference organisers, and also to provide a record of events.
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Sunday 11th May / Monday 12th May
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Click Here to Download [PDF:937KB]
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Tuesday 13th May
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Click Here to Download [PDF:760KB]
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Wednesday 14th May / Thursday 15th May
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Click Here to Download [PDF:634KB]
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Presentations – Sunday 11th May
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Opening Session
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Professor Paul Hunt (published transcript of his keynote address) [PDF:520KB]
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Presentations – Monday 12th May
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Plenary Session (P1): The Global State of Harm Reduction
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Combined Presentations – Part 1 [PDF:5.7MB]
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Combined Presentations – Part 2 [PDF:5.6MB]
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Major Session (M1): Harm Reduction in Spain – Part 1
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Luis de la Fuente (#1162) [PDF:3.1MB]
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Francisco José Caracuel (#956; Spanish) [PDF:1.7MB]
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Santiago Rincón Moreno (#804; Spanish) [PDF:0.7MB]
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Miguel de Andres (#1265; Spanish) [PDF:1.9MB]
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Major Session (M2): Hepatitis C Prevention and Treatment
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Holly Hagan (#989) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Amparo González Caballero (#1343; Spanish) [PDF:0.6MB]
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Margaret Hellard (#961) [PDF:1.2MB]
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Thomas Wong (#521) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Major Session (M3): Evidence in Harm Reduction
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Don C. Des Jarlais (#991; presented by Allan Clear) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Peter Vickerman (#1241) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Maria José Bravo (#1205) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Thomas Kerr (#705) [PDF:1.8MB]
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Double Concurrent (C1-1 & C2-1): Universal Access to HIV Prevention and Treatment for Drug Users
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Martin Donoghoe (#503) [PDF:0.8MB]
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Monica Beg (#606) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Tim Rhodes (#248) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Donna Higgins (#884; presented by Fabienne Hariga) [PDF:0.3MB]
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Annette Verster (#920) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Concurrent Session (C1-2): Harm Reduction Services in Prisons
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Sarah Larney (#1088) [PDF:0.3MB]
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Leah Utyasheva (#681) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Ventura Ferrer Castro (#971) [PDF:1.0MB]
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Monica Ciupagea (#1128) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Concurrent Session (C1-3): Hepatitis C Treatment and Responses
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Michael Carden (#1324) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Simona Merkinaite (#1193) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Anna Doab (#744) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Lisa Maher (#255) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Concurrent Session (C1-4): Cannabis
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Ross Coomber (#169) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Jean-Pierre Gervasoni (#1102) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Concurrent Session (C1-5): Injections and Infections
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Robin Pollini (#1289) [PDF:1.4MB]
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Rohan Sweeney (#737) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Concurrent Session (C1-6): Researching HIV Risk and Prevalence
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Lucy Platt (#1338) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Barbara Tempalski (#1046) [PDF:0.5MB]
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Olivier Letouze (#1194) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Emran Razaghi (#805) [PDF:1.3MB]
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Concurrent Session (C2-3): Hepatitis C Risk and Prevention Research
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Pedro Mateu-Gelabert (#328) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Peter Higgs (#538) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Noel Craine (#246) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Concurrent Session (C2-4): Education and Training in Harm Reduction Strategies and Approaches
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Ambros A. Uchtenhagen (#960) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Jean-Francois Martinbault (#998) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Joy Barlow (#815) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Concurrent Session (C2-5): Peer Involvement and Outreach
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Jim Watkin (#955) [PDF:0.8MB]
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Morshed Khan (#359) [PDF:1.5MB]
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Concurrent Session (C2-6): The Social Context of Risk and Intervention
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Samuel Friedman (#523) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Eugene McCann (#443) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Six O’clock Show (6PM1): The Role of New Technology in Harm Reduction
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John Fitzgerald (#422) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Carla Treloar (#531) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Susan Boyd (#525) [PDF:1.8MB]
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Six O’clock Show (6PM2): Ibogaine
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Howard Lotsof (#559) [PDF:2.7MB]
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Alex Wodak (#1192) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Alonso Perez (#1351) [PDF:1.4MB]
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Presentations – Tuesday 13th May
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Major Session (M6): Alcohol Harm Reduction for At-Risk Populations
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Betsy Thom (#339) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Concurrent Session (C3-1): From Implementation to Universal Access
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Olivier Maguet (#935) [PDF:0.3MB]
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Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch (#1114) [PDF:0.8MB]
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Gary Reid (#602) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Concurrent Session (C3-2): Young People
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Caitlin Padgett (#1116) [PDF:0.2MB]
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David Murray (#398) [PDF:1.1MB]
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Leila Pinto (#1053) [PDF:0.5MB]
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Adam Rutherford (#1223) [PDF:1.3MB]
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Concurrent Session (C3-3): Women, Risk and Harm Reduction
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Toby Seddon (#623) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Sheryl McCurdy (#1311) [PDF:1.8MB]
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Vicky Bungay (#399) [PDF:1.0MB]
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Concurrent Session (C3-4): Overdose
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Debra Kerr (#374) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Sharon Stancliff (#910) [PDF:2.0MB]
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Traci Craig Green (#913) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Concurrent Session (C3-5): Drug Use Surveillance
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Joanne Brady (#1039) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Jane Mounteney (#701) [PDF:0.6MB]
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Benjamin Phillips (#742) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Concurrent Session (C3-6): In the Name of Health: Drug Treatment in the Former Soviet Union
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Maria Ovchinnikova (#990) [PDF:0.3MB]
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Nino Balanchivadze (#584) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Sergii Dvoriak (#1283) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Inessa Vyshemirskaya (#1070) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Concurrent Session (C4-1): Healthcare Interventions to Reduce Harm
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Richard Alan Wood (#1246) [PDF:2.9MB]
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Anne François (#1004) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Patrick Noss (#1195; presented by George-Henri Melenotte) [PDF:0.7MB]
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Concurrent Session (C4-2): Overdose Prevention Programmes
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Kerrstin Dettmer (#907) [PDF:0.1MB]
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M. Teresa Brugal (#1253) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Jason Farrell (#506) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Concurrent Session (C4-3): Information Systems in Harm Reduction Agencies: Improving Data Collection
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Abdalla Toufik (#280) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Dagmar Hedrich (#619) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Paloma Carrillo Santisteve (#643) [PDF:0.6MB]
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Tara Carney (#583) [PDF:0.9MB]
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Concurrent Session (C4-4): Harm Reduction for High-Risk Groups in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: From Evidence to Action
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Dorothee Eckertz (#1076) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Chinara Seitalieva (#1308) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Concurrent Session (C4-5): Needle and Syringe Programming
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Norah Palmateer (#611) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Steve Hsu-Sung Kuo (#847) [PDF:1.3MB]
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Xavier Majó Roca (#463) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Concurrent Session (C4-6): Global Efforts on Tobacco Harm Reduction
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Karyn Heavner (#1219) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Chan Makan (#798) [PDF:2.4MB]
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Campbell Aitken (#756) [PDF:0.3MB]
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Six O’clock Show (6PM3): Activism
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Yvonne Aileen Sibuea (#500) [PDF:0.9MB]
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Six O’clock Show (6PM4): Drug Consumption Rooms and Supervised Injections
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Javier Rio (#657) [PDF:0.3MB]
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Allison M. Salmon (#284) [PDF:1.0MB]
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Kora DeBeck (#1052) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Andrea Krüsi (#690) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Presentations – Wednesday 14th May
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Plenary Session (P3): Criminal Justice, Human Rights and Drugs
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Damon Barrett (#1360; replacing #1140 – M. Ravi) [PDF:2.0MB]
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David Otiashvili (#581) [PDF:1.2MB]
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Scott Burris (#859) [PDF:2.3MB]
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Major Session (M7): The Harms that Harm Reduction Forgot
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Eric Schneider (#324) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Marta Torrens (#501) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Jim McVeigh (#493) [PDF:1.6MB]
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Sebastian Saville (#362) [PDF:4.4MB]
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Major Session (M8): Moving Towards Universal Access to Prevention and Treatment in Prisons
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Carmen Archanco (#869) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Inang Winarso (#1122) [PDF:0.5MB]
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Ralf Jürgens (#691) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Major Session (M9): Human Rights and Harm Reduction
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Rick Lines (#310) [PDF:0.1MB]
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R. Douglas Bruce (#1256) [PDF:1.2MB]
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Ann Fordham (#667) [PDF:1.8MB]
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Concurrent Session (C5-1): Opiate Substitution Therapies
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Perrine Roux (#306) [PDF:0.3MB]
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Eugenia Oviedo-Joekes (#568) [PDF:0.6MB]
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Nicolas Clark (#644) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Concurrent Session (C5-2): Hidden Harms
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Peter Dawson (#376) [PDF:0.5MB]
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Gail Gilchrist (#165) [PDF:0.3MB]
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Michael Orgel (#485) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Concurrent Session (C5-3): Stimulant Drugs
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Bradley Mathers (#739) [PDF:0.9MB]
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Tarcísio Matos de Andrade (#1247) [PDF:0.3MB]
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Sara Santos Sanz (#1272) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Concurrent Session (C5-4): Building a Community: Lessons from Local Drug User Activism in Eastern Europe
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Nikolay Rachev (#1104) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Concurrent Session (C5-5): ARVs for IDUs
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Gundo Weiler (#947) [PDF:1.5MB]
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Annemarie Rinder Bollerup (#660) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Chin-Hui Yang (#331) [PDF:0.3MB]
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Concurrent Session (C5-6): Ethno-Epidemiological Approaches to Understanding and Reducing Drug-Related Harm
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David Moore (#349) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Alex Kral (#725) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Will Small (#733) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Concurrent Session (C6-1): Harm Reduction in Spain – Part 2
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Victor José Villanueva Blasco (#1145; Spanish) [PDF:1.2MB]
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Eduardo Hidalgo (#150; Spanish) [PDF:3.2MB]
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Concurrent Session (C6-2): From Harm Surveillance to Harm Reduction
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Vivian Hope (#636) [PDF:0.5MB]
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Cinta Folch (#468) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Monica Suarez (#1213) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Lindsey Richardson (#901) [PDF:0.7MB]
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Concurrent Session (C6-3): Engaging the Police in Harm Reduction
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Katherine Mann (#724) [PDF:0.5MB]
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John Strang (#569) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Gulnara Darbekova (#1315) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Geoffrey Monaghan (#663) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Concurrent Session (C6-4): Prison Health Care for Drug Users: Issues and Approaches
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Jane Fountain (#245) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Deborah Coles (#474) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Concurrent Session (C6-5): Sex Work: The Impact and Harms of Criminalisation and How to Reduce Them
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Pye Jakobsson (#1290) [PDF:1.3MB]
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Rachel Wotton (#1067) [PDF:0.3MB]
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Angelina Georgieva (#195) [PDF:0.4MB]
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Concurrent Session (C6-6): Routes of Drug Administration
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Carol Strike (#909) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Alan Neaigus (#1028) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Rachael Pizzey (#504) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Robert Gray (#1065) [PDF:2.0MB]
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Presentations – Thursday 15th May
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Major Session (M10): Crack, Cocaine and HIV/AIDS: 21st Century Challenges and Approaches
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Claire Robbins (#716) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Major Session (M11): The Global Contribution of Nursing to Harm Reduction
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Bernadette Pauly (#1097) [PDF:1.1MB]
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Meaghan Thumath (#570) [PDF:1.2MB]
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Suzanne Long (replacing #1342 – Leckraj Boyjoonauth) [PDF:0.1MB]
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Major Session (M12): Insights from Harm Reduction Research
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Ricky Bluthenthal (#962) [PDF:0.2MB]
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Robert Heimer (#289) [PDF:0.7MB]
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Patrizia Carrieri (#314) [PDF:0.2MB]
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IHRA Awards
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 The 2008 International Rolleston Award was won by Dr. Andrew Ball, Senior Strategy and Operations Advisor in the Department for HIV/AIDS of the for the World Health Organization (WHO) and a long-time supporter of harm reduction – both within WHO (since 1991) and in the wider community (where he has supported the development and expansion of harm reduction programmes in a wide range of low and middle income countries).
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 The 2008 National Rolleston Award was won by Àmbit Prevenció, a Spanish NGO whose aim is to deliver support and HIV prevention to people who use drugs through needle exchanges, workshops and outreach.
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 The 2008 Travis Jenkins Award was presented to Theo van Dam of the Netherlands, in recognition of his efforts to teach people who use drugs to defend their rights, and his pioneering work within the European drug-user activism movement – including helping to establish the ‘International Drug Users Day’.
In addition to these annual IHRA Awards, a new scholarship was also presented – the ‘Bonnie Devlin Memorial Scholarship’. This award was developed as a tribute to Bonnie Devlin, a women who was not only instrumental in the organisation of the 1996 International AIDS Conference and the 2006 IHRA Conference (both in Canada), but also in the development of community programmes, services and research for people affected by drug use. In Barcelona, the first ‘Bonnie Devlin Memorial Scholarship’ was awarded to Ananda Pun – the chair of the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD) and also of Recovering Nepal (a national network of people who use users) – for his tireless efforts, in the face of such adversity, in the development of peer-based community HIV and harm reduction programmes in Nepal and Asia.
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Film Festival
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 The ‘5th International Drugs and Harm Reduction Film Festival’ also took place during Harm Reduction 2008 (from the 12th to the 14th May), and proved very successful and popular with the conference delegates (as reflected by the large attendance at the various screenings, symposia and sessions, which exceeded expectations and left standing-room only for many films). In terms of prominence, scope, diversity and geographical coverage, 2008 was by far the best year for the Film Festival since its inception at Melbourne 2004. The Film Festival is organised by the Centre for Harm Reduction at the Burnet Institute in Australia.
Over 50 documentaries from around the world were submitted for the 2008 Film Festival, of which 30 were selected to be screened. These 30 films were from 14 different countries – from Canada to Cambodia, and Australia to Afghanistan. The standout films (in terms of popularity amoingst delegates) were ‘The Sleeping Giant’ (Canada), ‘Just Punishment’ (Australia), ‘Children of Leningradsky’ (Russia), ‘Harm Reduction Video: Cambodia – Injecting Drug Use’ (Cambodia), and ‘Brothers of Kabul’ (Afghanistan). There was also a well-attended Spanish-only session which showcased several documentaries.
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At the conference’s Closing Session (on Thursday 15th May), the 2008 Film Festival Award was presented to ‘Harm Reduction Video: Cambodia – Injecting Drug Use’, directed by David Eberhardt and produced by Black River Films (with funding provided by the World Health Organization). The award was collected on the director’s behalf by Holly Bradford. The film delivers a broad range of harm reduction messages for drug users living in the urban centres of Cambodia through a mixture of real-life footage and animation. It was made with the participation of current and former drug users, and used a soundtrack that was specially recorded by a well-known Cambodian rapper (as well as karaoke-style rolling text at the bottom of the screen to highlight the key health messages).
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Feedback
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Please click here to view the Conference Feedback news article
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Photos
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Click images to view larger
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Links
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