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27 April 2011

Sign 'HIV and injecting drug use: A global call for action'

This declaration aims to hold the United Nations accountable to their commitments on HIV/AIDS for people who inject drugs worldwide. It does this by providing a clear platform for mobilising a broad constituency of civil society organisations and governments in support of evidence-based harm reduction interventions and drug policy reform as outlined in the Vienna Declaration. Ultimately, efforts around the declaration aim to raise the profile of these issues within the proceedings and outputs of the United Nations HLM on HIV/AIDS in New York.
27 April 2011

Middle East and North Africa ready to scale up harm reduction services in its response to AIDS

Injecting drug use and the growing HIV epidemic in the Middle East and North Africa were the focus of the International Harm Reduction Conference 2011 that took place in Beirut, Lebanon from 3-7 April 2011. The region is slowly increasing availability of harm reduction programmes although countries are at different stages of introducing the different components of the harm reduction package. Despite positive changes occurring in some countries, repressive measures and criminalization of drug users are still predominant in the region. To try reverse this situation, the Global Fund has granted $US 8.3 million to a multi-country project. Its aim is to raise awareness, advocate and build capacity of civil society organizations to scale up the provision of harm reduction services in 12 countries over the next three years.
21 April 2011

French National AIDS Council calls for drug law reforms

The CNS reports that harm reduction policies have managed to vastly reduce HIV infections among people who use drug in France, yet several serious problems remain, including a high prevalence of hepatitis and serious social and sanitary problems among many people who use drugs.
21 April 2011

Russian policy of breaching international agreements continues, as UN Secretary General arrives in Moscow

More than forty major civil society organizations working in the field of HIV and drugs in Russia and internationally, have sent an open letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations calling to advocate for human rights oriented and scientifically based drug treatment and HIV prevention in Russia. Ban Ki-Moon is arriving to Moscow on April 21, 2011 and has scheduled several meetings with high level Russian officials, including the President Dmitry Medvedev.
11 April 2011

Polish drug law reform goes forward

Under the new law, public prosecutors will be able to refrain from prosecuting a person for the possession of psychoactive or psychotropic substances if the individual possesses only a small amount of an illegal drug for personal use and has been arrested for the first time.
11 April 2011

Drug dependence treatment and HIV prevention in Kenya

During his first visit to East Africa since taking office, UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov visited the Nairobi Outreach Services Trust in Kenya, an NGO working to prevent HIV among injecting drug users and other vulnerable sections of the population in the capital.
30 March 2011

Brazil joins Bolivia anti-drug fight

Brazil has signed an agreement with Bolivia to tackle cocaine production and trafficking in the country. The deal comes weeks after US and UN reports said Bolivia was not doing enough to tackle cocaine production and trafficking. Bolivian President Evo Morales rejected those claims, accusing the US of falsely trying to link his government to drug trafficking.
29 March 2011

22nd IHRA conference in Beirut - Take a stand for harm reduction and against ill-treatment

During the 22nd International Harm Reduction Association’s Annual International Conference in Beirut, Lebanon, activists will unite to show to the world that all human rights must be respected and protected. Participants will stand on one foot on a small square — unable to put down the other foot for fear of prosecution, punishment and death — demonstrating just how little room there is to manoeuvre for those who use illicit drugs.
29 March 2011

Count the costs: 50 years of the war on drugs

The war on drugs creates massive costs, resulting from the enforcement-led approach that puts organised crime in control of the trade. It is time to count these costs and explore the alternatives, using the best evidence available, to deliver a safer, healthier and more just world.
28 March 2011

Mexican drug cartels move into Central America

Mexican drug cartels now operate virtually uninhibited in their Central American backyard. U.S.-supported crackdowns in Mexico and Colombia have only pushed traffickers into a region where corruption is rampant, borders lack even minimal immigration control and local gangs provide a ready-made infrastructure for organized crime.
28 March 2011

Bolivian President Evo Morales attacks drug reports

Bolivian president Evo Morales has accused the United States and the United Nations of conspiring to defame his government in two drug reports. He said criticism over Bolivia's handling of the war on drugs were part of a strategy to falsely link his government to drug trafficking.