Western Europe
Regional Overview
Early HIV epidemics among injecting populations in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom during the 1980s prompted the beginnings of needle and syringe exchange programmes. Governments were fast to adopt harm reduction approaches and now almost every country with reported injecting drug use has key harm reduction interventions in place. The high… 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 Western Europe. The map below illustrates HIV prevalence among injecting drug users in countries of the region. The map below illustrates hepatitis C prevalence among injecting… Read more
Harm Reduction Policies
The vast majority of Western European 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… Read more
Harm Reduction Programmes
Key harm reduction interventions (including needle and syringe exchange and opioid substitution therapy) are available in the vast majority of countries in this region, as illustrated in the maps and table below. Coverage in some areas remains low and improvements to service opening times, as well as stigma reduction and increased investment are… Read more