harm reduction - search results

[…] in July. Still recovering from a decade of budget cuts to drug treatment and the unintended adverse impacts of the recovery agenda moving the focus away from harm reduction – and with drug-related deaths escalating every year since 2011 – treatment services were not ready for the severe overdose risk posed by nitazenes. Many of […]

[…] country’s ‘overdose epidemic’. Almost 107,000 people in the US died a drug-related death in the 12-month period to November 2021. The strategy is the first to ‘champion harm reduction to meet people where they are and engage them in care and services’, the White House states, as interventions like naloxone and NSP are often still […]

[…] the market Over time I was able to disclose that I was a health professional who was interested in understanding the market and assessing the potential for harm reduction, rather than a customer. It is important to stress that Suffolk Police had oversight of this work and no laws were broken. Both sellers were eventually […]

Taking a global snapshot Why harm reduction must focus on the public health challenge. BECOMING IMMERSED in an international harm reduction conference is quite an intense experience, but that’s what we did last month at IHRA’s event in Barcelona. It was the first time DDN had been to this annual event, and the first time […]

By improving optimised OST and access to harm reduction, along with the upscaling of Naloxone provision, we can have an impact on drug related deaths.

[…] enables collation of evidence that good work is being done in the field, while also helping to map the existing gaps. About the author: bxchange Supplies is a social enterprise that develops products and publications for the drug sector, with the aim of improving the harm reduction response to drug use. Februbry 2015 |  drinkanddrugbnewb | 13 Reviews www.drinkbnddrugsnews.com All About Drugs and Young People: Essential Information and Advice for Parents and Professionals Julian bohen, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, £16.99 DRbWING ON COHEN’S LENGTHY CbREER IN THE SECTOR , the book – and in particular the practical advice – is based on what he has learned from fellow workers, parents and from working directly with young people.  The book is based on several key principles. The first is the notion of equating ‘drugs’ with a broad range of legal and illegal substances – that nearly […]

[…] industry of retailers, wholesalers and chemists. Down at the sharp end, the drug treatment field has undergone some seismic shifts – moving from a political focus on harm reduction and crime prevention to recovery, accompanied by a removal of ring-fenced funding, ferocious contract-culture and a cliff drop in public spending. The UK drug treatment system […]

[…] viruses, he believes. ‘There was a second spike in the HIV epidemic here that coincided with crack arriving, and it was only really because we had good harm reduction and treatment services in place that it didn’t become a more fully fledged epidemic. We could get an outbreak linked to legal high injecting, for example, […]

[…] the JunkiesBond are vibrant, active user led organisations to this day. In the UK, informed user activists emerged to be directly involved in the foundation of the harm reduction movement during the 1980s, in Liverpool, London and Manchester. Today this is reflected in the UK Harm Reduction Alliance and user groups’ and advocates’ open espousal […]

[…] on to the doctor for treatment with antibiotics. He then continued his journey to a specialist treatment service, and then on to a local needle exchange and harm reduction service. This seemed to demonstrate perfectly that I had achieved standard AA1. I used my experience from this episode for my portfolio, by giving a brief […]

[…] users, who are then awarded a certificate on successful completion of each section. The programme, developed by Altrix Healthcare, features 11 modules covering every aspect of treatment,from harm reduction to maintaining a drug-free lifestyle. Early trials have reported improved levels of user engagement in the treatment as well as better relationships between workers and service […]

[…] year begins on a positive note with the second DDN/Alliance service user conference, Voices for choices, a vibrant day of debate in Birmingham. Meanwhile, the abstinence versus harm reduction argument rumbles on in our letters pages following a piece by Professor Neil McKeganey, and the government finally reclassifies cannabis to class B despite last-minute attempts […]

[…] as contractinb COVID. There had been impressive collaboration within the sector, and some innovative developments includinb triallinb a ‘click and collect’ model for needles and other eissential harm reduction equipment. But there was also an increase in mental health issues from the boredom, loneliness and a situation that ‘has been really toubh for everybody’. ‘We’ve […]

[…] on clearing it up.’ So what could be the way forward? There was a clear need for evidence-based policy, he said, and we had to take a harm reduction approach that was ‘holistic and non-judgemental’, giving access to services. ‘The government has to direct significant investment in drug services as a matter of urgency,’ he […]

Around 99 per cent of people who inject drugs live in countries that are failing to provide adequate harm reduction services, says a new report from UNAIDS. Despite overall new HIV infections declining globally, infection rates among people who use drugs remain unchanged, says Health, rights and drugs: harm reduction, decriminalisation and zero discrimination for […]

[…] an initiative that can’t happen soon enough, says Ifor Glyn  There is a growing acceptance and evidence that providing safe and supervised injecting centres is a recognised harm reduction initiative that can lead to saving lives, encourage engagement with treatment services, and help reduce HIV and hepatitis C infections. They also address public concerns about […]

[…] in years, Europe has been able to gather together an experienced group of advocates to form a motivated, innovative and forward thinking activist group interested in implementing harm reduction policy and practice across the EU. The group is called The European Network of People who Use Drugs (EuroNPUD). We began in 2010/11 when EuroNPUD received […]

[…] hears from anti-smoking charity ASH on why, perhaps surprisingly, it thinks the plan is misguided Although the treatment sector is slightly less polarised than it was, the harm reduction/abstinence argument has raged for so long that’s it’s become the field’s background music. So it’s interesting to see similar debates played out – sometimes bitterly – […]

DDN reports from the 2013 NNEF annual meeting in Bournemouth, which has become a keenly anticipated fixture for information and ideas.  Keeping harm reduction at the heart of drug strategy was a key concern of the National Needle Exchange Forum (NNEF)’s annual meeting. This year it was held in Bournemouth and drew enthusiastic attendance from needle exchange workers […]

Photo by Baim Hanif on Unsplash Release’s Laura Garius discusses why universities must adopt harm reduction. It’s time to adopt a harm-reduction approach to student drug use. Despite decades of universities taking the ‘just say no’ approach, and with some actively pursuing an idealistic ‘drug-free campus‘, research shows that the majority of students have, or […]

[…] by medics and other support services. This all gave plenty of reasons for K-users Amy Massey and Mat Southwell to take action. Together with other K-users, these harm reduction activists aim to improve information exchange and access to healthcare and other services. Harm reductionists Mat Southwell and Amy Massey Mat has been an active harm […]

[…] for shared care were poly or chaotic drug users, said Dr Janikiewicz, as treatment could be far more complicated than for straightforward opiate use. Encourage GPs towards harm reduction Primary and secondary care have very different ways of working, but shared care is getting bigger, according to Suzanne Corrigan. A shared care co-ordinator at Brent […]

[…] to have a big pile of dead bodies before anything happens,’ he said. ‘No one’s taking this as seriously as we should be.’ He recommended an emergency harm reduction plan that included drug-checking in every city and town, with test strips available for different drugs. Supervised drug consumption facilities should also be rolled out nationally […]

[…] to enrol in drug treatment services. In fact, the majority of people who use drugs won’t need the support these services primarily offer, but would benefit from harm reduction support. Unfortunately, most harm reduction services in England are built into drug treatment services that people don’t feel comfortable accessing. Some people who contact Release also […]

[…] HIV in Europe. Her service, Metzineres, was responsive – an innovative, daring, non-profit cooperative, providing a sheltered environment exclusively for women. ‘It covers the full spectrum of harm reduction approaches,’ she said. Being effective meant breaking protocols. The Metzineres model provided consistency while being reliable, pragmatic and cost effective. Above all, it welcomed all women […]

[…] ns.o rg KEY Alcohol training:Includes identification and brief advice (IBA) and brief            interventions Complementary training: Includes hypnotherapy, acupuncture, holistic            treatments, wellbeing and nutrition Workforce development: Includes better standards training and preparing           for CQC registration Drug training: Includes stimulant use, opiates and smoking Dual diagnosis: Co-existence of a mental disorder and substance misuse disorder Criminal justice: Includes probation, police and prison Psychsocial therapies: Includes CBT, counselling, 12-step programmes,            behavioural train  ing, anger management, motivational training and           psychometric screening Family support: Includes family patterns, systemic theory and family meetings Harm reduction: Includes safer injectingbsmokingbdrinking, BBV Service user training: Includes mentoring, volunteering, basic skills Assessed: Is the participant evaluated or assessed?  Accreditation: Is this accredited training?  DANOS: Is all or part of this training mapped to DANOS? PT:  Part time  FT:   Full time  DL:  Distancebe-Learning Qualifications BSc:  Bachelor of Science BA:  Bachelor of the Arts MSc:  Master of Science  PGDip: Postgraduate Diploma PGCert:  Postgraduate Certificate […]

[…] found that the number of rough sleepers with a drvug problem had increased from 50 per cent to 60 per cent in just four years. IT'S ABOUT HARM REDUCTION ‘Getting out as much nalobone as possible to peovple who don’t necessarily engage vwith standard services is really important,’ says Megan Nash, team lveader for WDP’s […]

[…] other entertainment mean that young people are once again turning to outdoor partying on a large scale. Drug services are going to have to get creative about harm reduction, says Kevin Flemen. In many post-apocalyptic films there’s an unbearably naff sequence where everyone has a party. It’s like The Matrix Reloaded ‘Zion dance party’ and […]

[…] with to deal with addiction? Well, is providing needles, methadone and Subutex in effect treatment? To further confuse, controlled alcohol consumption is encouraged under the name of harm reduction. (Where’s the alcoholic who will only drink half of his bottle for that day?) To aid our financial dilemma, we wrote to the minister in the […]

[…] users in the south of the county. It is a respected mouthpiece and also a way of highlighting service gaps and giving feedback on training, conferences and harm reduction initiatives. Have you any tips for others starting a group? Be realistic, don’t overstretch yourselves, and decide on a name and an identity. Look at what […]

[…] and alcohol work. From learning ‘the basics’ to getting hands-on experience of some of the fundamental activities undertaken by drug and alcohol-workers (such as handling risk, assessment, harm reduction, care planning and reviews), participants will leave the training with a good grasp of many of the underpinning knowledge and skills required in drug and alcohol […]

[…] concerns are taken notice of. Manjit highlights a publicity campaign to reach carers, which leads them to a support group facilitated by Adfam. There’s also a new harm reduction campaign, where 12 ser vice users have been trained to give overdose and harm reduction information to ser vice users in the community, including how to […]

[…] shift’, she states, but that doesn’t mean that all countries are moving in the same direction. ‘Russia is absolutely entrenched in complete rejection of any kind of harm reduction, for example,’ she says. ‘Human rights NGOs are being shut down on a daily basis, and last year they asked USAID and other multi-lateral bodies to […]

Life and death Harm reduction at international level goes beyond choice One slightly built young woman trembled on the platform at the International Harm Reduction Conference. She was introduced as a passionate campaigner for drug users’ rights and a harm reduction pioneer, preventing overdose with naloxone in Cambodia. But when it came to Srey Mao’s turn to […]

[…] ‘At this time I was the drug czar. He asked me, “why aren’t smokers in jail?” It was the human rights angle, the ‘emotional momentum’ that introduced harm reduction services, including needle exchanges and outreach. As president of Caso Drug Users Union, Rui Coimbra Morais had witnessed the evolution of the decriminalisation model in Portugal […]

[…] being given arbitrary changes to their treatment plans related to what their commissioners would prefer to provide.’ Changes in treatment and a focus on recovery had sidelined harm reduction, and there was pressure on services to achieve ‘drug-free exits’. So what should we be doing? Two of the clearest practical steps were to invest in […]

[…] new amendments have the potential to become the most significant moment in the battle against opioid-related deaths in the UK in recent years. WIDER ACCESS For years, harm reduction advocates have called for broader access to naloxone. The recent HMR amendments reflect not only these calls, but also the feedback received during recent public consultations […]

BY NAFISAT DASOLA JIMOH Tobacco harm reduction (THR) is a transformative public health opportunity, saving people’s lives by offering safer alternatives to smoking for those who are unable or unwilling to quit nicotine. However, much THR dialogue has overlooked the specific challenges and needs of women – especially in regions of the world where cultural, […]

[…] and violence,’ she said. Doorkeepers still keep serving people who are worse for wear… We laugh at drunk people for doing crazy things.’ (News item) Abstinence or harm reduction? Neil McKeganey, professor of drug misuse research at the University of Glasgow was involved in research – discussed here in his article – which the Scottish […]

[…] the latest ONS figures, that’s now fallen to less than 12 per cent (DDN, October, page 5). A new briefing paper from the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR) points out that not only will the proportion of adults who smoke likely have fallen to just over ten per cent next year, but the […]

Universities should be focusing on a harm-reduction approach to drug use among students rather than a ‘zero tolerance’ attitude, according to a report from Universities UK (UUK), a collective of more than 140 universities.  Twelve per cent of students reported having taken a drug in the last year More than 4,000 students were surveyed […]

[…] support to people experiencing issues around drug and alcohol use. Likewise is a partnership between national charity Humankind and Project 6. One aspect of this support is harm reduction, which includes equipping people who use drugs, their friends, loved ones and professionals with naloxone kits and training them to use the medication effectively in an […]

The day’s second session explored the countless benefits and opportunities of partnership working. ‘I’ve lost a lot of people who drug treatment doesn’t work for,’ harm reduction content creator at Cranstoun, Alistair Bryant, told delegates. ‘If you can get to any of our doors, you’re already halfway through what you need to do. I think it’s […]

[…]   Chief executive of Change Grow Live, Mark Moody ‘We welcome the major step forward that this strategy signals for the long-term future of drug treatment and harm reduction. We back the strategy’s acknowledgment that addiction must be treated as a chronic health condition. This is a significant breakthrough for drug treatment and a critical […]

[…] until 6 August at www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10086 Related articles (Features, August 2023): DDN visited the Global Forum on Nicotine in Warsaw to hear about the challenges of mainstreaming tobacco harm reduction. (News, August 2023): 40 per cent of smokers in the UK think that vaping is ‘as or more risky’ compared to smoking up from 27% last year. (Features, […]

[…] www.alcoholconcern.org.uk News |Round-up www.drinkanddrugs.net 30 January 2006 | drinkanddrugsnews| 5 A rushed decision by the World Health Organisation to reschedule buprenorphine is being contested by the International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA). WHO’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) has included a ‘final decision’ on rescheduling the drug on the agenda of its meeting on 28-31 […]

Thirty years after Michael Linnell’s first graphic  harm reduction campaigns burst onto the scene he recalls the outrage – and the results – that spurred him on In March 1985 I answered an advert in The Guardian. A small drugs charity called Lifeline was looking for an artist, and they gave the job to me. Over […]

Unlike in England, drug deaths in Wales have been falling since 2010 – a result that can be traced to Welsh public health policy and harm reduction practice, say Josie Smith and Chris Emmerson    As previously reported in DDN (October, page 4), according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), a total […]

[…] Why are ‘risky’ and ‘unpleasant’ new versions of cannabis replacing the real thing? Adam Winstock shares findings from the Global Drug Survey. For the last decade much about harm reduction for cannabis was pretty straightforward. Nothing much had changed apart from the dominance of high potency herbal cannabis and its association with higher rates of paranoia, […]

Just 4 per cent of the worldwide total of drug users living with HIV are receiving antiretroviral therapy, according to Harm Reduction International’s (HRI) latest Global state of harm reduction report, while just 8 per cent of the world’s injecting drug users are estimated to be able to access opioid substitution therapy. On a ‘global […]

Launch of Drink Drug Hub website provides reliable harm reduction information for anyone in North Yorkshire. Not every person who drinks or uses drugs develops harmful patterns of use – but drink and drugs can cause lots of people lots of problems. By providing reliable and accurate information, we can help adults and young people […]

[…] to those they serve, making it impossible to understand their needs. ‘Nothing about us without us’ has long been a principle of the drug policy reform and harm reduction movements – and rightly so. In recent years, it has been good to see more agencies and institutions than before recognise this basic omission, and begin […]

Switching to safer nicotine products could be a life-saving intervention for millions of people currently using high-risk tobacco products like combustible cigarettes. Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR) maps the global, regional and national availability and use of safer nicotine products, regulatory responses to them, and the public health potential of tobacco harm reduction […]

[…] with 4,859 deaths registered in 2021. This is the highest number since records began, and almost 50 per cent of those deaths involved an opiate. Without the harm reduction interventions of providers like Turning Point, the situation would be significantly worse, but we see that there is still a long way to go and that […]

[…] working in, and residents affected by the alcohol business to come up with new solutions.’ She invited anyone who wanted ‘to do something about the nuisance and harm that too much drinking causes,’ to get in touch. Suggestions from locals are invited by 8 November. Email Dan Farag at daniel.farag@publicinnovation.org.uk Locals have their say […]

[…] DRUGS PRACTITIONER (REF: TH 003) Salary:£24,708 - £28,221 (SCP 31-36) inclusive of Inner London Weighting and pro-rata 28 hrs The postholder will undertake targeted outreach and deliver harm reduction information, advice and referral to treatment services. This post is for a one-year fixed term contract and then subject to further review. TRAINING OFFICER (REF: TH […]

[…] developing a myster y shopper pro- gramme, based on members’ evidence. ‘Ser vices say that key workers spend an hour with each client – 20 minutes doing harm reduction, 20 minutes doing social development, this sor t of stuff,’ says Corfield. ‘But we keep hearing that clients are kept waiting for 55 minutes, seen for […]

Harm Reduction International is a leading non-governmental organisation working to promote and expand support for harm reduction. DDN Magazine has produced several reports on their events that you can view here.

Delegates at the National Needle Exchange Forum’s annual conference heard inspiring examples of taking harm reduction to the next level. James Pierce reports.  Photography by nigelbrunsdon.com More than 200 delegates from all over the UK returned to Birmingham for the National Needle Exchange Forum’s (NNEF) annual meeting in December. Perhaps the most important part of […]

[…] Kent TN27 0LT From the letters page DDN October2019 Thorny issues I was happy to see a strapline on last month’s DDN that promotes the rebirth of harm reduction activism, though who knows where the money will come from for that. And then I turn the page and read the ‘Post-its from practice’. What has […]