“One case of harassment, one case of misconduct of power is too many. We are striving to get to zero”
This was the statement of Gunila Carlsson, deputy executive director during the Special Session of UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB)[1]. AIDS Action Europe participated in this meeting because we think that only a strong organization that is willing to counteract any kind of sexual…
AIDS Action Europe participated at the Special Session of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB), the governing body of UNAIDS, which usually meets twice a year to overlook the work of the UN Joint Programme on AIDS.The special session of the UNAIDS PCB was called together to follow up on the situation of sexual harassment and abuse of power within the UNAIDS Secretariat. Two agenda points…
AIDS Action Europe participated at the Special Session of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB), the governing body of UNAIDS, which usually meets twice a year to overlook the work of the UN Joint Programme on AIDS.The special session of the UNAIDS PCB was called together to follow up on the situation of sexual harassment and abuse of power within the UNAIDS Secretariat. Two agenda points…
This time it was Bucharest, the capital of Romania that hosted the HepHIV Conference 2019. Romania holds the EU presidency in the first half of 2019, and faces challenges in responding to the HIV, TB and viral hepatitis epidemics, in particular when it comes to addressing and including key populations in the response. In this sense, Bucharest was a good choice since the speakers could voice their…
PRESS RELEASE
Harm reduction services need sustainable funding mechanisms to improve testing and linkage to care for people who use drugs
Last week, the three-year European Union (EU) Joint Action on HIV and Co-infection Prevention and Harm Reduction (HA-REACT) has come to its end. HA-REACT had 22 partners, representing 18 EU Member States, with additional expertise provided by 14 collaborating…
Just a few days ago, Russian LGBT Network stated again about the arrest and attacks of at least 40 people being LGBT. Since the first anti-gay purge in Chechnya, the network reports, around 150 people out of region were relocated and around 130 people found sanctuary out of Russia.
Today, we like to follow the appeal of Igor Kochetkov (Russian LGBT Network) and ask you to call on global leaders…
By Jeffrey Lazarus, #HAREACT
We know what works. Opioid substitution therapy in prisons, safe needles in the streets, direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for anyone who’s infected. No, what we need to eliminate hepatitis C isn’t more interventions. What we need is the political will to implement what works.
What we need to eliminate hepatitis C isn’t more interventions. What we need is the political…
The sole objective of this guideline is to summarize and educate about highly useful concepts for scaling up harm reduction in any country.
Estimates of the prevalence of drug use and its consequences have a major influence on many public policies. Estimating prevalence is especially important for forecasting the health needs and costs of the drug user group and for evaluating the coverage and…
AIDS Action Europe held the seat of Europe NGO Delegate on the Programme Coordinating Board of UNAIDS from 2016-2018. Our colleague, Ferenc Bagyinszky, represented AAE on the NGO Delegation: “My 3 years with the NGO Delegation was one of the most rewarding and challenging period of my life. It was not only the steepest learning curve in the field of global HIV politics but also gave me an…
Before the Global Fund Replenishment Conference which will take place in October 2019 in France and is aimed to raise new funds to end AIDS, TB and malaria by 2030, AIDES together with other partner organisations launched a petition aimed at heads of states and governments calling to support the Global Fund. You can support the petition via the following link:
https://www.change.org/p/sida-une…
The 2018 AIDS Action Europe Member and Partner Meeting took place on Saturday, October 20, in Berlin. This year, the AAE Steering Committee decided to focus on 2 topics of concern for civil society organisations working in the field: good practices and gaps in addressing women in harm reduction and the role of international networks in response to HIV/AIDS, TB and viral hepatitis.
This article…
The aim of this document is to show an approach based on the opportunities that harm reduction offers to people who use drugs, to the community and to society. It is part of the HA-REACT Joint Action on HIV and Co-infection Prevention and Harm Reduction.
"This booklet is an approach to drug harm reduction: policies and interventions aimed at reducing drug-related harm for people who use drugs. …
AIDS Action Europe Member and Partner Meeting took place on Saturday, October 20, in Berlin. This year the AAE Steering Committee decided to focus on 2 topics of concern for civil society organisations working in the field: good practices and gaps in addressing women in harm reduction and the role of international networks in response to HIV/AIDS, TB and viral hepatitis.
This article will focus…
The NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB
Calls for the Immediate Release of the Independent Expert Panel’s (IEP) Report
December 6, 2018
At the 42nd UNAIDS Program Coordinating Board (PCB) meeting in June 2018, the PCB agreed to establish an Independent Expert Panel (IEP) to coordinate and complete a comprehensive review/audit on prevention of and response to harassment, including sexual harassment,…
This video explains what harm reduction is and how it benefits people who use drugs, as well as their families and communities.
Harm reduction acknowledges that people should not need to stop using drugs to receive help. Research shows that harm reduction decreases the negative effects of drug use without increasing drug injection. That’s why organizations such as the World Health Organization…
Harm reduction consists of policies, programmes and practices that reduce the negative health, social and economic effects of drug use.
This brochure explains how it can benefit people who use drugs, as well as their families and communities.
Download the brochure at https://bit.ly/2RZUvRl
Many people are not able or willing to stop their drug use. Harm reduction acknowledges that people…
The second European ChemSex Forum was held in Berlin on 22-24 March 2018, organized by International HIV Partnerships and Professional Briefing and attended by 243 participants from 32 countries. The Forum started with a training day for 65 frontline staff from WHO European region and was followed by 2 days of presentations, discussions, panels, debates, small group workshops and poster displays…
HA-REACT has recently developed new online tools to train staff in low-threshold settings on HIV and HCV testing and linking to needed care, on opioid substitution treatment and condom distribution program in prison settings, on prison needle and syringe programmes and harm reduction.
New training courses are:
HIV and HCV rapid testing in low threshold settings for PWUD in English
Opioid…
The NGO INDIT Foundation, based in Pécs, is one of the few organisations, which is providing harm reduction services for people who use drugs (PWUD) in Hungary. The foundation maintains facilities providing medical care services and social support, such as the “Drug Clinic” with outpatient care or opioid substitution therapy (OST), and testing and counselling; and the so-called “Alcohology”,…
The Global Village, an open space and accessible for everyone during the conference, has presented the work of networks, organisations and other community groups of PLHIV and key affected populations from all over the world. This area was dedicated to people who work on the ground at the community level, activists and others. They presented their work and implemented activities on harm reduction…
This video was prepared in 2017 in the framework of HA-REACT project by the Ministry of Health of LUXEMBOURG in order to present the best harm reduction practices implemented in Schrassig penitentiary unit. It was translated into Polish and soon will be used for training purposes for the prison staff.
The video introduces a procedure of safe exchange/distribution of syringes.
In English:
In…
AIDS Action Europe’s executive office attended the 22nd International AIDS Conference, which has been a big success for many of us addressing gaps and challenges in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region, which remains as one of the few regions in the world where new HIV cases and AIDS deaths continue to grow rapidly. However, 16.000 people from 160 countries came to Amsterdam for the…
A Call for urgent action in response to rapidly expanding HIV epidemics among gay men, other men who have sex with men and trans people in newer EU member states and enlargement countries
In 2008, civil society organizations from 33 countries in Europe and Central Asia and six European networks signed ‘The Ljubljana Declaration’, warning that HIV remains a most alarming health threat among gay…
For prisoners with a history of drug use, in particular opioid use, the risks related to drug use, in particular overdose and death are extremely high in the immediate period after release from prison, due to high rates of relapse and lower opioid tolerance. Much still needs to be done in order to ensure that people with a history of drug use are sufficiently cared for, when released from prisons…
The "Training manual on HIV and HCV rapid testing in low-threshold settings for PWUD" is designed to be a complete tool to provide staff in low-threshold settings the knowledge, skills and techniques needed for testing people who use drugs for HIV and HCV and linking them to needed care.
The content of the manual was adopted from previously developed guidelines, manuals and handbooks and is based…
The National Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction (Národní monitorovací středisko pro drogy a závislosti - NMS), the Czech partner of the Joint Action on HIV and Co-infection Prevention and Harm Reduction (HA-REACT), is participating in and adopting cross-sectional activities on harm reduction in the Czech Republic.
Viktor Mravcik, the head of NMS, and his colleagues, Tereza Cernikova and…
European Commission presents its Joint Actions at the AIDS International Conference 2018, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The Health Programme satellite symposium will take place on:
Monday, 23 July 2018
14:45 - 16:45, Meeting room: Hall 10Harm reduction for people who inject drugs in Europe: findings from European Joint Action HA-REACT
17:00 - 19:00, Meeting room: AuditoriumEuropean Surveys and…
We would like to invite you to join us at the International AIDS Conference 2018, which takes place in Amsterdam on 23-27 July. AIDS Action Europe is involved in various activities and sessions, in the following you can find a short overview where the AAE team can be found:
AIDS Action Europe together with the European AIDS Treatment Group is hosting the Civil Society Forum Booth (number 618) in…
In the context of the Work Package 5 (WP5) of the EU Joint Action on HIV and Co-Infection Prevention and Harm Reduction (HA-REACT), Finland´s National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) organized a study visit related to harm reduction surveillance on June 18 and 19, 2018, in Helsinki. Lithuanian professionals from the Centre for Communicable Diseases and AIDS (ULAC) and the Centre for…
AIDS Action Europe releases a call for abstracts for the AAE Member and Partner Meeting, taking place on Saturday, 20 October 2018 in Berlin. This is the 3rd AAE Member and Partner Meeting which gives valuable opportunity for AAE to receive input from our members and partners as well as for exchange between eastern and western NGOs. The AAE Steering Committee initiated this meeting for the first…
