What can we learn from the COVID-19 pandemic?
COVID-19 and the impact on harm reduction in Europe

Since the beginning of 2020, European countries have experienced an unprecedented public health threat with the emergence of COVID-19. In response to the pandemic European countries have implemented a variety of virus containment strategies along with various service closures and reductions. People who use drugs are particularly susceptible to the changes wrought by this pandemic. Border closures cause major disruptions to drug supply chains and vital harm reduction services face potential closures and shortages of sterile supplies. PWUD can face additional risks of COVID-19 due to crowded living situations and unstable housing, sharing of drug equipment in addition to stigma and marginalization preventing health-seeking behaviors. In addition, PWUD in Europe often have underlying chronic medical conditions, such as Hepatitis C, placing them at further risk of severe respiratory illness should they fall ill with COVID-19.

In this session, we will discuss the lessons learnt and the way forward from a diversity of perspectives.

Speakers will provide a 5 minute introduction statement and will be interviewed afterwards by a designated C-EHRN member. At the end of the interview phase, the floor is open for discussion with the audience.

: agreed but speaker tbc – Marinella Kloka, Praksis, Greece

: Alexis Goosdeel, director – John Peter Kools, Trimbos Institute, NL

: Matt Southwell, director – Jose Queiroz, Apdes, Portugal

: Mariam Jashi, Georgian Member of Parliament,
UNITE’s Chapter Chair from Eastern Europe & Central Asia) – Ganna Dovbakh, EHRA

: Prof Jeffrey Lazarus, ISGlobal – Dr. Rafaela Rigoni, C EHRN

COVID-19 and treatment of viral hepatitis

: Prof. Dr. Mojca Maticic, University of Ljubljana – Christos Anastasiou, EuroNPUD, Greece

: Ricardo Bapista, Unite – Peter Sarosi, Drugreporter, Hungary

Launch of the special edition of the Harm Reduction Journal

Harm Reduction in Europe is confronted with new developments and challenges. The provision of HR services is inadequate in many countries, especially in the eastern part and the situation is deteriorating in countries with traditionally good coverage. Combatting viral hepatitis remains to be one of the health priorities for PWIDs, requiring the involvement of HR services in the cascade of care. The number of overdose deaths continues to grow. Drug use and drug use patterns have changed: the use of cocaine, stimulants and synthetic drugs is increasing and HR services need to extend the focus on different groups: marginalised and recreational drug users, aging drug users, homeless people and adapt services accordingly.

This session will launch a thematic series in the Harm Reduction Journal , which seeks to examine where harm reduction is as philosophy, policy and practice in 2020 in the broader European regions. The collected articles cover a variety of topics, including the funding crisis for harm reduction in Central and Eastern Europe, the specific needs of women, Hepatitis C, prison-related needs and challenges, innovations in treatment, the role of civil society in policy development and monitoring, New Psychoactive Substance and the impact of Covid-19 on harm reduction services.

The session will provide an overview of the topics covered by the different articles and discuss specific challenges with dedicated experts in the field of harm reduction and drug policy.


Katrin Schiffer, Correlation- European Harm Reduction Network
Eberhard Schatz, Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network
Ghanna Dovbakh, European Harm Reduction Association


Welcome and Introduction
Prof. Nick Crofts


Katrin Schiffer , C-EHRN
Ghanna Dovbakh, EHRA

Different approaches for decriminalisation – what works?

Many countries started slowly to adopt alternatives to punishment, abolishing criminal sanctions for use and possession of psychoactive substances and replacing them with the administrative measures, such as fine, compulsory or voluntary treatment and other social interventions. However, not in all cases these alternatives brought positive outcomes for people who use psychoactive substances and society at large.

Thus, we need to review new approaches or update old ones, to ensure that measures adopted by the state are proportionate and in line with human rights.

In this session we will discuss 5 different approaches to decriminalization, which are applied in 5 countries and their impact on lives of people who use psychoactive substances and society.


Global Commission on Drug Policy (Pavel Bem)
Kyrgyzstan (Erkinbek Iriskulbekov)
Germany (Alexandra Gurinova, Deutsche AIDS Hilfe)
The Netherlands (Machteld Buch, Mainline)
Estonia (Mart Kalvet, LUNEST)
Lithuania (Eliza Kurcevic, EHRA)
UNODC (Zhannat Kosmukhamedova)

Engaging with policymakers and the public to promote ethical drug policy

The war on drugs has failed – drug related deaths in many countries are at record levels, and the global drug market continues to increase in size. Without the burden of ideology framing its aims in terms of a moral impetus, any other field of public policy similarly marred by failure would be swiftly overhauled. Propagation of punitive drug policy may be driven directly by policymakers, or indirectly by the electorate as politicians try to avoid being seen as being ‘soft on drugs’ – this session will confront the question of how best to engage with both the decisionmakers, and the public who hold them to account in order to promote an ethical rationalisation of drug policy.

The session will start with the launch and partial screening of the short film Putting UK Drug Policy into Focus, produced by public health physician, Dr Adam Holland, which highlights the problems with UK drug policy as an example of a criminal justice approach to drugs. The film features contributions from UK and international experts.

Following this we will be joined by panellists who have experience engaging with policymakers and the public to discuss previous challenges and how best to move forward in the future with an opportunity for attendees to pose questions.


Dr Adam Holland and Dr Emily Crick (University of Bristol)


Professor David Nutt – Imperial College London
Ann Fordham – International Drug Policy Consortium
Dr Magdalena Harris – London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Neil Woods – Law Enforcement Action Partnership
Dr Nuno Capaz – Lisbon Dissuasion Commission
Dr Prun Bijral – Change Grow Live

See the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCxXLmMPt6Y

European harm reduction sessions

COVID-19 and the impact on harm reduction in Europe

Background
Since the beginning of 2020, European countries have experienced an unprecedented public health threat with the emergence of COVID-19. In response to the pandemic European countries have implemented a variety of virus containment strategies along with various service closures and reductions. People who use drugs are particularly susceptible to the changes wrought by this pandemic. Border closures cause major disruptions to drug supply chains and vital harm reduction services face potential closures and shortages of sterile supplies. PWUD can face additional risks of COVID-19 due to crowded living situations and unstable housing, sharing of drug equipment in addition to stigma and marginalization preventing health-seeking behaviors. In addition, PWUD in Europe often have underlying chronic medical conditions, such as Hepatitis C, placing them at further risk of severe respiratory illness should they fall ill with COVID-19.

What can we learn from the COVID-19 pandemic? 

Harm reduction conferences have a long history in Europe, including Marseille 2011, Basel and Amsterdam in 2014 and Bucharest in 2018.

In 2020, the European harm reduction conference will be organised by the Correlation European Harm Reduction Network in close cooperation with the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association and the Czech organization Sananim.

The programme is under development in close cooperation with the European Network of People Who Use Drugs, the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, the European Monitoring Centre Drugs and Drug Addiction and other important stakeholders from Europe.

innovation, community & political leadership

The European Harm Reduction Conference is aimed at professionals from the community, professionals working in the broader area of harm reduction, policy-makers and politicians, researchers and media representatives.

The conference will present the latest harm reduction developments, innovative and good practices and will discuss drug policy and its implications on people who use drugs and other groups like sex worker and people living with HIV.

The meeting intends to broaden the view beyond harm reduction and to address related issues like social inclusion and homelessness.

Finally, the conference provides an appropriate platform to create links and synergies between national and European stakeholders.

European Harm Reduction Conference 2020 [POSTPONED]

: COVID-19 and People Who Use drugs (PWUD) and People Who Inject Drugs (PWID)

: Nour-Eddine Yasfi - Field and community Trainer at AHSUD Morocco

: Tuesday, November 3, 2020, from 2–3PM Beirut time

· الموضوع: فيروس كورونا والأشخاص الذين يستخدمون المخدرات
· المتحدث:نور الدين ياسفي - المتدخل الميداني في جمعية حسنونة
· التاريخ / الوقت: الثلاثاء تشرين الثاني/نوفمبر من الساعة 2 حتى 3 عصراً بتوقيت بيروت

COVID-19 and people who use drugs (PWUD) and people who inject drugs (PWID)

The international drug control regime, based upon a set of international treaties that have been in place for decades, must be reformed. The prohibitionist and repressive approach currently in vigour, often marketed under the label of the ‘war on drugs’, has failed to end drug use and trafficking. Drug use has never been as high as today and the illegal drug market is worth over $500bn per year.

Panelists of this groundbreaking digital conversation include high-level personalities who led countries, research institutions, or international organizations and gathered an extensive experience on peace, security, and multilateralism.

Through the lenses of evidence, they discuss alternatives to the current repressive paradigm to curb the growing power of organized crime and address the collateral violence, both direct consequences of the current prohibitionist paradigm – decades of repression have given these organizations the financial and military means to unbalance governments, corrupt judiciary and banking systems, and threaten democracies.

Ruth Dreifuss, Former President of Switzerland, Global Commission on Drug Policy

Javier Solana, Former EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Global Commission on Drug Policy

Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Former Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations

Christian Dussey, Director, Geneva Center for Security Policy

Renata Dwan, Director, UN Institute for Disarmament Research

Tuesday Reitano (moderator), Deputy Director, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

Drug policy reform: Opportunity or threat to international security?

Learn more about the development of the Opening Minds Provider Attitudes Towards Opioid Use Scale (OM-PATOS) and how it can be used to systematically measure the attitudes and helping behaviours of first responders and health-and social-care providers towards people living with opioid use. You'll learn more about how the scale may be used for the purposes of evaluating and assessing the impact of initiatives or programs designed to reduce opioid related stigma, as well as more about the work we have been doing in assessing opioid stigma reduction programs.

This webinar will be presented by Dr. Stephanie Knaak and Jes Beshara. Dr. Knaak, the co-creator of the OM-PATOS, is a Senior Research Consultant at the Mental Health Commission of Canada and international leader in stigma research. She also holds an Assistant Adjunct Professorship in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary and is an associate member of the Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education. Jes Beshara is a Community Harm Reduction Support Navigator at the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit in Brockville and a Peer Support Worker at Canadian Addiction Treatment Centres. She is a recent graduate of the Mental Wellness and Addictions Worker program at St. Lawrence College and has over 25 years of lived experience with opioid use.

Measuring stigma related to opioid use

The Global State of Harm Reduction 2020 is the most comprehensive independent analysis on harm reduction policy and practice around the world. This year we found that harm reduction implementation has worsened, after having stalled since 2014. Join our online launch to hear more about what we learnt. The event will feature Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, alongside harm reduction and human rights experts from around the world.

Harm Reduction International (HRI) released the first Global State of Harm Reduction in 2008, a report that mapped responses to drug-related HIV, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis around the world for the very first time. The data gathered for the report provided a critical baseline against which progress could be measured in terms of the international, regional and national recognition of harm reduction in policy and practice. We have continued this global tracking ever since.

Report launch: The Global State of Harm Reduction 2020

'It is essential that we begin a serious discussion on how we regulate stimulants. This book provides a powerful start.'

Chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme.

Join us on 22nd October at 20:00 (GMT+1) as we lay out the only realistic alternative to prohibition for stimulant drugs - a new and unique contribution to the drug policy debate.

‘How to regulate stimulants: a practical guide’, a groundbreaking new book published by Transform, considers a question which has largely been overlooked so far: how we might regulate stimulant drugs. Stimulants are used by millions of people globally, but remain deeply stigmatised. They produce a wide range of effects and bring a spectrum of risks. In our new book, we outline an alternative approach, providing concrete proposals for the legal regulation of cocaine, MDMA and amphetamines.

In this webinar, we will introduce our proposals for the regulation of stimulants.This is an invitation to everyone concerned with drug policy reform to broaden the debate, and imagine how we might construct a positive future.

Register here.

Book Launch - How to regulate stimulants


- Lisa Sanchez, the Executive Director of México Unido Contra la Delincuencia
- Ray Lakeman, who campaigns with Anyone's Child: Families for Safer Drug Control. He lost his two sons on the same night after they took ecstasy of unknown purity and strength
- Gloria Lai, the Asia Regional Director for the International Drug Policy Consortium
- Lorenzo Uribe, Lead Drafter of the Cocaine Regulation Bill currently before the Colombian Senate
- Steve Rolles, Senior Policy Analyst at Transform Drug Policy Foundation and lead author of 'How to regulate stimulants: a practical guide'

How to regulate stimulants - Book launch

As part of the Feminist Realities Journey, we are inviting you to take part in a series of curated conversations, designed to spark meaningful dialogue and co-creation, among feminist activists and organizations from all over the world.

June Jordan reminded us that “we are the ones we have been waiting for”. Join activists from Southern Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Central and Latin America and the Caribbean in this interactive Curated Conversation as we discuss and strategize ways of using our collective power to challenge criminalization & stigmas.

The activists will share a bit about the important work being done across HIV/AIDS advocacy, resisting drug policy, ensuring sex worker rights and expanding the fight against criminalization. Using examples of freedom-making and transformative solutions, we will discuss how we are resisting and creating in spite of systemic violence and erasure.

We are no longer waiting on anyone else to create the change we deserve; we are the ones that we have been waiting for!

This virtual event will take place on Zoom. Please make sure to check for any Zoom updates on your computer in advance of the Curated Conversation.

The event will have translation in Spanish, English and French but to access the interpretation channels, your Zoom must be updated.

Freeing ourselves: Challenging criminalization & stigmas

Part Four of the webinar series - 'A World with Drugs: Legal Regulation through a Development Lens'.


In this webinar we explore what lessons we can learn from Fair Trade practices when shaping legally regulated drugs markets. How do we make sure we follow in the right footsteps and build a fairer drug trade?

An exciting line-up of speakers will be announced shortly.

This webinar will be in English, we are exploring options for live Spanish translation.

21 October, 16:30-18:00 BST.
London – 16:30-18:00, Bogota – 10:30-12:00, New York, 11:30-13:00, Johannesburg – 17:30-19:00, Delhi – 21:00-22:30.

This webinar is part of a wider series exploring why the socially just legal regulation of drugs is vital for sustainable development. We will explore how drug policies intersect with some of the most pressing issues facing the development sector, and identify how to make sure legally regulated drug markets work for people along the supply chain.

Trade justice and the legal regulation of drugs webinar

Book launch hosted by GSI, University of Geneva and GDPO, Swansea University

Analyzing arguably one of the most contested areas in public policy, this Research Handbook brings together contributions from a variety of researchers and practitioners to provide a global overview of the shifting dynamics of drug policy internationally. Chapters tackle a complex and cross-cutting issue from inter- and multi-disciplinary perspectives, incorporating political science, history, law and public health into their analyses.

Emphasizing connections between the domestic and the international, this event will discuss how the Research Handbook illustrates the intersections between drug policy, human rights obligations and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Integrating detailed discussion of ever-evolving drug markets, a diverse range of policy responses, and political and ideological tensions, the speakers of this event will discuss the regional dynamics of drug control, its historic constructions, and the contemporary and emerging problems it is facing.

Nicolas Levrat, Global Studies Institute, University of Geneva (TBC)

Dave Bewley-Taylor, Professor, Swansea University, co-editor

Caitlin Hughes, Associate Professor, Flinders University, contributor

William McAllister, Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University, contributor

Katharine Neill Harris, Alfred C. Glassell, III, Fellow, Rice University, contributor

Patrick Shortis, PhD Candidate, Manchester University, contributor

Khalid Tinasti, Visiting Fellow, GSI, University of Geneva

Past Events