Lithuanian professionals visited Madrid and Barcelona to learn about improving harm reduction services for people who inject drugs
As part of WP5 of the European project “Joint Action on HIV and Co-Infection Prevention and Harm Reduction” (HA-REACT), a delegation from Lithuania including: psychiatrists, narcologists, nurses, and social workers, visited Madrid (12-13 September) and Barcelona (14-15 September). Other professional from the Czech Republic Estonia, and Greece joined them. They visited different organisations to share experiences with professionals at shelters, low threshold centres, day care centres, opioid substitution treatment centres and mobile units, among others.
This was part of a series of study visits organised by WP5. Previously, Latvian professionals had visited Spain in October 2016, and Prague in April 2017. The objective of these study visits was to introduce the selected group to harm reduction programmes combatting the drug consumption-associated HIV epidemic, as carried out in different countries and contexts. The aim was to further stimulate discussion in each representative’s home country and to consider the possibility of initiating similar programmes in Latvia and Lithuania together with all necessary stakeholders.
The activity was organised by a collaboration of Group 21 of Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spanish partner to the “HA-REACT” project, and the Instituto de Adicciones Madris Salud and Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona.