On January 31, AFEW organised a tour of harm reduction projects for Kathleen Ferrier and Ewout Irrgang, MPs from the Dutch parliament. The aim was to show legislators how harm reduction is an effective approach that prevents the spread of HIV and the negative consequences of drug use. AFEW and its partners also explained to MPs the severe lack of funding for these projects at the international level.
As a result of the visit, Ms Ferrier and Mr Irrgang promised to initiate a dialogue with their inter-parliamentary contacts on the Netherlands’ contribution to the international HIV response. They also expressed their readiness to contact the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, in order to highlight the need for increased commitment to harm reduction in Russia.
During this very successful visit, the parliamentarians got to see good examples of harm reduction projects in the Netherlands. They visited three key sites:
•The Mainline Outreach Bus that provides information and support to substance users;
•The User Room at HVO-Querido, where drug users can consume drugs openly in a safe, dealer-free and supervised environment;
•The Amsterdam Health Service, a public clinic that offers specialised welfare and medical services to marginalised clients (including drug users). This ground-breaking centre offers a model for good public healthcare for people affected by or at risk of HIV.
The parliamentarians attended presentations by Els Klinkert (UNAIDS), Daan Gouwe (Trimbos Institute) and Joost van der Meer (AFEW). The speakers highlighted how harm reduction projects across the world are reducing the impact of the HIV epidemic. They also emphasized the need to advocate strongly for harm reduction and rights-based HIV responses in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA).
We remind readers that EECA faces the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the world, an epidemic largely fuelled by drug use and fast becoming generalised in populations. At the same time, there is still minimal political support and funding for programmes that help drug users and people most at risk of HIV. The human rights of people living with HIV remain low on the agenda of healthcare providers, leading to a situation where only 22% of people in need of antiretroviral drugs actually receive them*.
Download the coverage in ‘Het Parool’: Parool 20110201 werkbezoek
Download the presentation by Joost van der Meer: VE presentatie harm reduction veldbezoek TK 2011-01-31
*Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic’, UNAIDS, 2008.
