{"id":6488,"date":"2015-07-12T22:10:30","date_gmt":"2015-07-12T22:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/odyseus-calls-for-common-solutions-on-drugs-in-slovakia\/"},"modified":"2022-07-04T14:33:55","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T12:33:55","slug":"odyseus-calls-for-common-solutions-on-drugs-in-slovakia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/odyseus-calls-for-common-solutions-on-drugs-in-slovakia\/","title":{"rendered":"Odyseus Calls for Common Solutions on Drugs in Slovakia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Slovakia needs to find a common solution to guarantee harm reduction for all in need – argues\u00a0a local harm reduction provider, Odyseus,\u00a0in a video produced jointly with Drugreporter.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Only a\u00a0small proportion of Slovakian injecting drug users have access to low-threshold services. As an indication, according to the most recent (2008) prevalence data, there are between 8,200 and 33,500 people who use drugs heavily, mostly using methamphetamine and heroin.\u00a0In 2013, there were 2,252 clients registered with local harm-reduction NGOs. In Slovakia, the availability of syringe exchange programs is very limited \u2013 there are two outreach programs in Bratislava, the capital, with one NGO operating in each of three towns (Trnava, Nitra, Sere\u010f) and one providing services in the city of\u00a0 Ko\u0161ice. The central region of the country remains without a single syringe exchange program.<\/p>\n

These harm reduction NGOs (Odyseus, Prima, Zdru\u017eenie Storm, Pomocn\u00e1 ruka)\u00a0 struggle every year for survival. State funding for drug prevention declined by more than 50 percent during the period 2010-2011. Most of the state budget\u00a0 allocated to drug issues is earmarked for public order and law enforcement, and the finances specially allocated for meeting the goals identified in the Slovak drug strategy are spent in mass media campaigns about drugs, with only 5% of this budget spent on harm-reduction outreach programs. HIV prevalence remains low; there is, however, an HCV epidemic among people who inject drugs in Slovakia.<\/p>\n

In the new video created by HCLU, Odyseus C.A., a harm reduction organization founded in 1997, highlights the problems related to drug use in Slovakia, such as lack of services, inadequate funding for these services, criminalisation of drug users,\u00a0 negative attitudes towards syringe exchange, and community frustration on the issue of discarded syringes.<\/p>\n