Report by Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN) developed in the lead-up to the 26th Global Fund Board meeting, which is taking place in Geneva on May 10-11, 2012. The report assesses the consequences of the sharp reduction in donor support that forced the Global Fund to halt new funding and to impose cost-cutting measures.

Over the last decade, the Global Fund has played a unique and indispensable role in responding to the HIV epidemic among people who use drugs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA). From 2002 to 2009, it approved $263 million for harm reduction in EECA alone—more than all other international sources combined.

Dear EHRN members,

Terms of 5 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 Drug user community as well as Belarus-Ukraine-Moldova, Central Europe and Caucasus 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.

Dear Mr. Kazatchkine,

Not long ago your have stepped down from the position of Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

On behalf of activists, organizations and civil society representatives working in the field of HIV/AIDS and TB prevention and treatment in the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA),  by the letter attached we would like to express our uttermost respect and appreciation for all you have done for the development and maintenance of the Global Fund and for your constant support of interests of people living with and/or affected by the three diseases in our region.

In response to EHRN's call for documentation of your best practices in harm reduction advocacy and service provision, we have received 18 submissions from 9 different CEECA countries. We are aware that there are many more harm reduction organizations that have achieved impressive successes but have not yet had time to respond to our call. For that reason, we are extending the deadline and invite you to share your best practices in harm reduction services delivery and advocating for introduction or scale up of harm reduction programs by May 29.

Details of the project are available in the Call for documentation.

Why you should consider applying?

This best practice documentation project will:

• Publicize and showcase your successes and achievements at the national, regional and international levels to potential partners, donors through major web-sites and in print e.g. CEECA Harm Reduction Best Practice Directory and various harm reduction journals;

• Help you establish professional links with other good practice harm reduction programs and advocates and build partnerships and alliances to exchange expertise and develop joint projects;

• Help you use documented good practices and new partnerships in raising funds to sustain your programs and advocacy campaigns.

What is "best practice"?

Best practice harm reduction services and successful harm reduction advocacy projects/campaigns are those that have demonstrated their effectiveness in CEECA and produced tangible results e.g.:

• Improved the quality, scope, and scale of harm reduction services;

• Increased the number and effectiveness of advocacy campaigns, including advocacy by and for people who use drugs;

• Improved policy environments in which harm reduction programs operate;

• Promoted the sustainability of harm reduction services through appropriate funding mechanisms and supportive public policies.

Please submit your best practice using the standard application form here and send it to

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by May 29, 2012.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us!

The call is open to both EHRN members and non-members. You are welcome to share this information with your colleagues and partners!

We are looking forward to hearing about your experiences and practices!

Marija Subataite                                                                    
Program Manager, Technical Support Program
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Andrius Losakevicius
Program Officer, Technical Support Program
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Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN)

NGO with the Special Consultative Status with Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
www.harm-reduction.org

Address: Svitrigailos 11-B, Vilnius 03228, Lithuania
Tel.: +370 5 2609007, 2691600
Fax: +370 5 2691601

Also, please share this information with your colleagues and partners.
We are looking forward to your experiences and practices!

“We can’t afford not to treat hepatitis C!”

- with this slogan came up participants of the regional seminar “Hepatitis C treatment in resource – limited settings: mobilize for a joint regional campaign!“, which took place in Kiev, Ukraine on March 28-30, 2012.

According to participants, countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) are too poor to afford themselves the luxury not to treat hepatitis C, because consequences of untreated disease cost more than investments in its treatment.

The new Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN) report „The war against people who use drugs: the costs“ shows that implementation of criminal laws regulating drug use and drug possession with no intent to supply costs million of dollars. “At the time of economic downturn, the limited international donors support, the priority should be to stop wasting money on interventions that have no positive outcome and usually are implemented at the expense of basis human rights. The report provides further evidence that punishment of people who use drugs not only fails to achieve any positive results but also is a tremendous waist of often limited governments resources in the region”

Since 2008, the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN) represents the Civil Society Action Team (CSAT) initiative in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA). CSAT activities at the global level are coordinated by the Secretariat of the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO).

•    Identify civil society needs for technical support on the issues of the Global Fund grant implementation, advocate for expanding technical support services and connect technical support providers with civil society organizations that require technical support;

Move is an Assault on Freedom of Expression.

(Moscow) – The Russian government’s anti-drugs agency has ordered the blocking of the website of a public health organization, the Andrey Rylkov Foundation, for discussing the addiction medicine methadone, human rights groups said today. The move is an assault on freedom of expression in the midst of pro-democracy protests, the groups said.

In October 2011, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria approached the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network concerning different types of needle-syringes and their possible influence on HIV transmission among people who inject drugs.While emerging evidence suggests that a switch to low dead-space (LDS) syringes could have a major impact on HIV,

EHRN’s report “Drug Dealers, Drug Lords and Drug Warriors-cum-Traffickers: Drug Crime and the Narcotics Market in Tajikistan” presents research on the role played by the police, petty drug dealers and users in the street level drug trade in Tajikistan. Synthesizing information received from interviews with individual Tajik drug users, as well as lesser-known studies by local researchers, the study brings to light a number of interesting details of the street level drug trade in Tajikistan and discusses their implications for drug policies in the Central Asian region as a whole.

Today in Geneva, Switzerland, starts 29th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB). In order to draw attention of this governing body of UNAIDS and all of those who are committed to counteracting HIV epidemics in the world, Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN) presents newly released report „HIV and the Law“, which reveals brutal drug users human rights violations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA), and calls on governments to implement humane drug policies which support rights of millions of people who use drugs and promote effective measures in response to HIV epidemic.

The Communities Delegation is made up of individuals living with HIV, TB and affected by malaria, and its vision is one in which all communities living with, or affected by HIV, TB and malaria to have equitable access to quality services and support needed to prevent, treat and/or live with these infections within a conducive environment that respects human rights. The mission of the Communities Delegation is to ensure the voices and issues of people living with HIV, TB and affected by malaria influence the deliberations and decisions on investments and programmes of the Global Fund to achieve greater and sustained impact for communities.