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May 21, 2013
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In anticipation of the upcoming International Harm Reduction Conference, which will be held on 9-12 June 2013 in Vilnius Lithuania, EHRN presents an edition of the EHRN newsletter specifically highlighting the issues related to opioid substitution therapy (OST) in the region of Central/ Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA), which will be one of the key topics at the conference. In the newsletter you will find editorial note by Dr. Emilis Subata (Founder of EHRN and Director of Vilnius Center for Addictive Disorders), an overview of the situation with coverage, access and funding for OST as well as recommendations for improvement. Regional highlights include experiences of implementation of OST programs from several CEECA countries; “Being heard” features a personal reflection of community representative about the situation in Russia.
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May 14, 2013
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Dear Friends!
We seek your participation in a survey that, through a collective effort, will help us develop a regional project. The project will be implemented in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) from 2014 to 2016 as a part of the New Funding Model (NFM) of the Global Fund.
At the end of February 2013, the Global Fund announced the launch of the NFM. As a part of the early applications process, 6 countries and 3 regional initiatives, including the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network, were selected. An HIV regional project in EECA is a unique opportunity for all of us and your support and participation in the development of the regional initiative is extremely important!
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May 13, 2013
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10 media scholarships - call for applications
The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) is offering 10 media scholarships to eligible journalists to attend the International Harm Reduction Conference 2013 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Call for Applications
The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) is now calling for applications for media scholarships from eligible reporters who would like to attend and cover the upcoming International Harm Reduction Conference 2013 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
The scholarships are part of a campaign by the HCLU to encourage quality news reporting on key issues around drug policy and harm reduction.
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April 18, 2013
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By the initiative of World Health Organization (WHO) the Collaborating Centre for Harm Reduction (WHO’s CC) has been established at the Vilnius University Public Health Institute (PHI) in the 2013.
“WHO’s designation of the PHI as the first Collaborating Centre on Harm Reduction reaffirms the importance of and our commitment to applying evidence-informed interventions when responding to HIV in the European Region”, says Martin Donoghoe, Programme Manager, HIV/AIDS, STIs & Viral Hepatitis for the WHO Regional Office for Europe.
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April 11, 2013
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In the period of March 11 – April 12, 2013 sub-regional elections to the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network's Steering Committee (SC) was organized in accordance with the EHRN Steering Committee Statute.
9 EHRN members met the election criteria and were nominated as candidates for membership in EHRN’s Steering Committee:
3 candidates to represent sub-region of Central Asia:
o Parvina Akhmedova (Tajikistan);
o Pulod Jamolov (Tajikistan);
o Sholpan Primbetova (Kazakhstan).
6 candidates to represent sub-region of South-Eastern Europe:
o Boris Milanovic (Serbia);
o Eroll Shporta (Kosovo);
o Samir Ibisevic (Bosnia-Herzegovina);
o Tijana Zegura (Montenegro);
o Valentin Simionov (Romania);
o Vlatko Dekov (Macedonia).
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April 03, 2013
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VILNIUS (April 2, 2013) – In late February the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria issued a press-release announcing the launch of the New Funding Model (NFM). Six countries and three regional programs including Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN) were invited to participate as "early applicants” in the full process of the New Funding Model, from submitting a Concept note to starting the implementation of a new project.
EHRN received and accepted an official invitation to participate as one of the regional initiatives in this first stage of the New Funding Model and to create a new HIV/AIDS grant proposal for the period of 2014-2016. The regional project is to be focused on HIV response and harm reduction in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA). Indicative funding amount for the project is US$6 million.
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April 03, 2013
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The International Harm Reduction Conference, taking place on 9-12 June 2013 in Vilnius, Lithuania, is only several months away. Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN) and UNAIDS would like to see more journalists from the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the conference and better conference coverage in the media of these countries. Therefore EHRN and UNAIDS announce 10 scholarships for the Russian speaking journalists from the region.
The scholarship will include participation in the seminar and the conference for journalists.
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March 26, 2013
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The Nomination of Candidates to take the position of EHRN Steering Committee (SC) is closed and we are happy to announce the nominees to take 2 positions at SC to represent Central Asia and South-Eastern Europe sub-regions and open the voting.
We received a great interest in the upcoming SC elections and 9 EHRN members expressed their intentions to become a member of Steering Committee.
All EHRN members from Central Asia and South-Eastern Europe countries can give their votes for their candidates.
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March 23, 2013
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Thisreport has three primary objectives:
1) To explain to civil society representatives the basic components of the NFM.
2) To summarize observations about the NFM, including concerns and opportunities which were identified
during the research.
3) To help support advocacy efforts, especially among civil society and community groups whilst providing
the Global Fund with relevant recommendations.
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March 13, 2013
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New Head of the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis Mark Dybul, Lithuanian Minister of Health Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, President Aleksander Kwaśniewski , former President of Poland and President Ruth Dreifuss, former President of Switzerland to address the opening ceremony of the 23rd International Harm Reduction Conference
Lithuanian pop stars Erica Jennings and Jurgis Didžiulis (The Ball and Chain) confirmed as patrons of the event.
Sir Richard Branson, ex tennis star Ana Kournikova and UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov to send video messages in support of the event.
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March 11, 2013
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Terms of 2 Steering Committee (SC) members of EHRN are coming to an end next month and EHRN Secretariat is announcing an upcoming election of new SC members to represent Central Asia and South-Eastern Europe subregions.
The SC is the governing body of EHRN that facilitates the fulfillment of EHRN’s mission by developing and implementing policies, strategies and operational principles of EHRN per the EHRN SC Statute. For that reason, elections of SC members are an important event for all of us.
But most importantly, SC elections give you an opportunity to influence the scope of EHRN’s activities aimed at advocating for the universal human rights of people who use drugs (PUD), and protecting their lives and health.
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March 04, 2013
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EHRN presents policy brief “Halting HIV by Reducing Violence against Women: The Case for Reforming Drug Policies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia”. Document is based on the Submission to the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, submitted by EHRN in October, 2012. The submission can be accessed in English here.
Policy brief was prepared in frames of the project “Strengthening the response of non-state actors to growing needs of women who use drugs”. The overall objective of the project is to build the capacity of non-state actors to engage in advocacy and provide services to women drug users that increase their access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment and prevention of mother-to-child transmission services. Project is funded by the European Union.
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February 26, 2013
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EHRN presents policy brief “Current situation regarding access to hepatitis C treatment in Eastern Europe and Central Asia”. The policy brief summarizes key findings from an assessment of hepatitis C treatment accessibility in EECA undertaken by the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN). Mapping was conducted from October to December 2011 in six countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA): Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine and updated with some information from Bulgaria, Estonia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belorussia, Latvia, and Uzbekistan in September-November, 2012. The main goal of the mapping was to assess access to pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Based on the mapping's findings, EHRN has formulated recommendations on how to remove the identified barriers to access and improve the situation.
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February 20, 2013
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Country overview
Albania is situated in Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe. By land it is bordered by Greece, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo, while shares the Adriatic Sea with Italy and Ionian one with Greece as well. It has has an area of 28,748 square kilometers and its relieve is predominantly mountainous. The capital city of Albania is Tirana (with around ½ million inhabitants) located in the west central part of the country.
Population
The population of Albania in 2011 was estimated at ~ 3.500.000 inhabitants (including the number of Albanian migrants who live and work abroad). The age structure of Albania is considered still young in comparison with many European countries.
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February 04, 2013
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The Guide published in 2009 has been revised and updated. One of the important amendments for organizations involved in harm reduction, is an expanded framework for assessing the quality of key interventions – Quality indicators for needle-syringe programs has increased from 4 to 15 (page 58), for Opioid Substitution Therapy – up to 26 indicators (page 70).
The idea of the revision was not to change the interventions in the package, but to focus on providing countries with a more user-friendly framework of how to measure progress in implementation of the interventions of the package.
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