The Kuala Lumpur Sessions

The Drugreporter filmed some of the key sessions at the Harm Reduction Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Maria Phelan at the opening of Harm Reduction Conference 2015 from Harm Reduction International:

Dr Raj Abdul Karim, president of the Malaysian AIDS Council

YB Datuk Seri Dr. S. Subramaniam, The Honourable Minister of Health Malaysia at the opening ceremony

Mahd Razali Bin Ayub, WARDU/ANPUD

Anand Grover, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health at the opening ceremony:

The Malaysian AIDS Council receives the National Rolleston Award

Edo Nasution from PKNI Indonesia receives the International and National Rolleston Award:

Abdul Rahim Rejaey receives the Carol and Travis Jenkins Award:

Leadership in Transition

This session discussed the retreat of international donor support from harm reduction and the challenges of transitioning to sustainable national-level financing. participants were: Marijke Wijnroks, Chief of Staff, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Lambert Grijns, Ambassador for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights & HIV/AIDS of the Netherlands. Dr Sha’ari Ngadiman, Ministry of Health, Malaysia. Pascal Tanguay, Law Enforcement and HIV/AIDS Network. Chaired by Daniel Wolfe.

Ending the death penalty for drug offences

This session brings together leading lawyers and human rights advocates to discuss current efforts to end the death penalty for drug offences in four key death penalty States: China, Indonesia, India and Malaysia. Participants were: Tripti Tandon, Deputy Director, Lawyer’s Collective (India), Ricky Gunawan, Program Director, LBH Masyarakat (Indonesia) Dr Yingxi Bi, (China) Shamini Darshni, Executive Director, Amnesty International Malaysia. Chaired by Rick Lines.

Leadership Communities

This session highlighted examples of community driven campaigns in support of harm reduction and human rights. The chairs were Michel Kazatchkine and Eliot Ross Albers.

Speakers:

Rajiv Kafle, Global Network of People Living with HIV

Nukshinaro Ao, Asian Network of People who Use Drugs

Jules Kim, The Scarlet Alliance

Liz Evans, former director of INSITE in Vancouver

Leadership in Drug Policy Reform

This session explored key areas of tension within the current drug control regime as we head towards the 2016 UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs. Chairs were Mme Ruth Dreifuss and Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch.

Dr Carl Hart, Columbia University