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Campaign for Harm Reduction in Hungary

November 13, 2005 | Author: Péter Sárosi

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More than 50 professionals from 26 countries supported the SignOn letter circulated by the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union.

 

The SignOn is part of a recent campaigne aiming to pressurize the government to improve the funding system of service providers and reform drug laws in Hungary.

According to recent news, the government started to transfer the money to the service providers – the campaigne did its share. Even if it seems improbable that the government will do any attempt to reform the Penal Code until the next parlamentary elections (May 2006), this petition contribute to raise awareness to the severe barriers of treatment and prevention efforts. The SignOn had wide coverage in the Hungarian media, three major newspapers reported the HCLU's press release in front pages:

 

Népszabadság

 

MTI/OS

 

Index

 

Magyar Nemzet

 

 

Text of the letter:

 

To: Mr. Ferenc Gyurcsány, Prime Minister of Hungary

Miniszterelnöki Hivatal

1055 Budapest Kossuth Lajos tér 1-3.

 

 

 

Dear Mr. Prime Minister!

 

Harm reduction programs, such as needle exchange and methadon maintenance therapy play a crucial role in the global fight against blood born diseases, especially HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B, C. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is compelling evidence that increasing the availability of sterile injecting equipment by injecting drug users reduces HIV substantially [1]. The WHO, together with the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recently produced a joint position paper in which they note that substitution therapy is „one of the most effective treatment options for opioid dependence” [2]. In 2005 WHO adopted methadone to its lists of essential medicines, which „are intended to be available within the context of functioning health systems at all times in adequate amounts, in the appropriate dosage forms, with assured quality and adequate information, and at a price the individual and the community can afford”. [3] The Hungarian government committed itself at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) dedicated to HIV/AIDS (25-27 June, 2001) to ensure that a wide range of prevention services will be available for vulnerable populations by 2005, including access to sterile syringes and voluntary and confidential counseling and testing [4].

 

Apart from international recommendations and commitments, the government have an obligation to implement the „National Strategy to Combat the Drug Problem”, accepted with the full consensus of the Hungarian Parlament in the year 2000. [5] The Strategy calls for the establishment of at least one methadone maintenance treatment per region in the shorter term (6.3.4.3) and a significant improvement in the access to treatment in the longer term, that is, until 2009. However, despite the strong efforts of Hungarian health and social care professionals to scale up harm reduction programs in the country, the governments so far failed to provide an appropriate funding system for these life-saving services. Coverage of both substitution treatment and needle exchange programs is well below ten percent among injecting drug users – a rate clearly unsufficent to prevent the spread of blood born diseases. Contrary to the short term goals of the National Strategy, there are still several regions with significant injecting drug user population not covered by any harm reduction programs.

 

The government often declares its intention to approach drug problems from social and health perspectives instead of the criminalization of drug users but the facts show a different picture:

 

·               the government so far failed to propose a new drug legislation which meets with the expectations of the vast majority of professionals working in the field (to decriminalize drug use per se to facilitate effective social and health care) and it did not create the legal background of an effective funding system;

·               the government curtailed the budget of the the Drug Coordination Office of the Ministry of Youth, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (MYFSAEO) last year (1686,1 Million HUF in 2003; 1781,1 Million HUF in 2004; 996,0 Million HUF in 2005). Consequently, NGOs working on the field have much less resources.  

 

 

Operating harm reduction services often face shortage in moral and financial support and hostile criminal law enforcement practices:

 

·               the most significant methadone maintenance clinic (Nyírő Gyula Kórház Drogambulanica, Budapest) had to stop recruiting new clients recently because of financial problems, applicants are set to waiting lists

·               one of the most visited needle exchange sites (Drogprevenciós Alapítvány, Budapest) have to close its doors without urgent governmental intervention

·               According to the position of the Office of the Public Prosecutor of Hungary, police have to start criminal investigation if they observe any object which „refers to the suspition of crime”. [6] Among these objects can be used syringes returned to needle exchange sites by responsible drug users. This policy lands all street outreach and needle exchange activites in serious difficulty.    

 

Dear Mr. Prime Minister!

 

We, the undersigned health and social care professionals and activists from various countries ask you to make urgent steps to stabilize and normalize the financial and legal situation of harm reduction services in Hungary. We recommend you

 

1)     to promote new criminal legislation and law enforcement practice to avoid the criminalization of drug users; 

2)     to improve the funding system of service providers working on the reduction of drug related harms; 

3)     to provide appropriate budget to implement the requirements of the National Drug Strategy and ensure access to recently frozen funds.

 

Sincerely,

 

NAME

INSTITUTE/ORGANIZATION

COUNTRY

Daan van der Gouwe

Trimbos Institute

Holland

Aleksandrs Molokovskis

HIV Prevention Programme at Kekava

Lattvia

Holly Catania

 

 

 

International Center for Advancement of Addiction Treatment

 

U.S.

Alex Wodak

 

 

 

Alcohol and Drug Service,

St. Vincent's Hospital

 

Australia

Paul Hardacre

 

 

 

 

 

Asian Harm Reduction Network

 

Thailand

Catalina Iliuta

 

 

ARAS and (RHRN) Romanian Harm Reduction Network

Romania

Anna Lyubenova

 

 

Initiative for Health Foundation

Bulgaria

Valeriy Pakhomov

 

 

Odessa Regional Charity Foudation

Ukraine

Petr Nikitenko

 

 

Charitable Foundation “For Healthier Society”

Russia

Dmitry Usenko

 

 

SYLAF

Kyrgiztan

Olena Nechosina

 

 

“Coalition of HIV-servicing NGOs”

Ukraine

Olga Fedorova

 

 

Moscow Helsinki Group

Russia

Vitalij Polonets

 

 

Charitable Foundation “Stalist”

Ukraine

Tatiana Evlampieva

 

 

 

Irkutsk Red Cross

Russia

Julia Vinckler

 

NGO Convictus Eesti

Estonia

Nikos Dedes

 

 

EATG – European AIDS Treatment Group

Belgium

Wim

Vandevelde

 

 

GAT – Grupo Português de Activistas sobre Tratamentos de VIH/SIDA

Portugal

Mauro Guarinieri

 

 

The Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+)

Italy

Radka Argirova

 

 

Chief of Lab. for Retroviruses, Natl Center of Infectious and Parasitic Disease

Bulgaria

Aleksandrs Molokovskis

 

 

HIV Prevention Programme at Kekava

Lattvia

Volker Mertens

 

 

German AIDS Foundation

Germany

Marek Zygadlo

 

 

Krakow Association of Help for Drug Addicts (KTPU)

Poland

Grazyna Konieczny

 

 

Social AIDS Committee

Poland

Emmanuel Trenado

 

 

AIDES, National HIV/AIDS Community-based NGO

France

Ton Coenen

 

 

Aids Fonds * Soa Aids Nederland * STOP AIDS NOW!

Holland

Stijn Goossens

 

 

Breakline Peer Support

Belgium

Milena Naydenova

 

 

Hope-Sofia

Bulgaria

Martine Hutsebaut 

 

 

Debed Vzw (League for an Emancipatory Drugpolicy)

Belgium

Yulia Burganova

 

 

Public Opinion Survey and Social Research Center, Yaroslav

Russia

Tatiana Rumyantseva

 

 

Municipality institution “Public Opinion

Survey and Social Research Center”

Russia

Martine de Schutter

 

 

AIDS Action Europe, the Pan European NGO Partnership on HIV and AIDS

Holland

Andria Efthimiou

 

 

John Mordaunt Trust

U.K.

Joep Oomen

 

 

European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies, ENCOD

Belgium

Maria Georgescu

 

 

ARAS – Romanian Association Against AIDS

Romania

Eberhard Schatz

 

 

CORRELATION network

Holland

Willemijn Los

 

 

Amsterdam Drug Users Union (MDHG)

Holland

Lorena Pahovic

 

 

SVIT – Drustvo za pomoc odvisnikom in njihovim druzinam

Slovenia

Andrey Shiryaev

 

 

AIDS.Uz — Uzbekistan's HIV/AIDS related issues Internet portal

Uzbekistan

Zarir Simrin

 

 

PASSAGE

 

Association for Potection

 

of Drug Users Rights

Macedonia

Henrik Arildsen

 

 

Hiv-Danmark

Denmark

Lars Steinov

 

Ambulatory Enghaven

Copenhagen V

 

Denmark

Katarina Jiresova

 

 

ODYSEUS

Slovakia

Daniel Wolfe

 

 

International Harm Reduction Development Program, OSI

U.S.

Raminta Stuikyte

 

 

Central-Eastern European Harm Reduction Network (CEEHRN)

Lithuania

Xavier Majó Roca

 

 

Programme on Substance Abuse. Department of Health

Autonomous Government of Catalonia

Spain

Nora Stojanovik

 

 

Macedonian Harm Reduction Network

Macedonia

Bijan Nassirimanesh

 

 

Persepolis, Teheran

Iran

Birgit Wichelmann-Werth M.A.

 

 

Drug Crisis Center, Frankfurt/M., FDR

Germany

Ian Harris

 

 

Drug Policy Interest Group

U.K.

 

 

[1] WHO, Effectiveness of Sterile Needle and Syringe Programming to Reduce HIV/AIDS Among Injecting Drug Users (Geneva, 2004).

 

[2] WHO, UNAIDS, UNODC, Position Paper: Substitution Maintenance Therapy in the Managemant of Opioid Dependence and HIV/AIDS Prevention (2004).

 

[3] WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, 14th List, March 2005.

URL: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2005/a87017_eng.pdf

 

[4] Keeping the Promise: Summary of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. UNGASS Special Session on HIV/AIDS, 25-27 June, 2001, New York. (UNAIDS: 2002). 

 

[5] National Strategy to Combat the Drug Problem: Conceptual Framework of the Hungarian Government’s Anti-Drug Strategy (Ministry of Youth and Sports, 1999).

URL: http://www.drogfokuszpont.hu/dfp.web?mid=147

 

[6] Offical letter of the Office of the Public Prosecutor to the National Police Headquarters  (14 May, 2005).

 

Filed Under: Articles Topics: Harm Reduction, Psychedelic Medicines

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