Cost Effectiveness

For developing countries with limited resources, Harm Reduction is the only approach that makes sense: ôIt saves lives and money,ö explained Paulo Teixeira of Brasil. Dr. Paulo Teixeira was one of many panellists to field questions in TuesdayÆs debate session on the Cost Effectiveness of Harm Reduction. He is also the author of the law that has been approved by the state government of S o Paulo on Harm Reduction. The link between Harm Reduction and the public is clear to Teixeira: ôBetween 1992 and 1997, the contamination by HIV/AIDS has increased in many states of Brasil from 3% to 6%, and in others, 6.1% to 19%. But in S o Paulo, where we have changed the laws, we were able to decrease the contamination rate by 1.5 % in the last year.ö

When asked what countries like the US could learn from S o PauloÆs success, Teixeira is clear that the Harm Reduction policies of Brasil have been inspired by European policies: ôFirst, the legal and financial basis must be there. Second, the health programmes have to be built send users to programmes, not prisons, and third, we need to make those work to save lives.ö How do they save lives? They give out objective information and sterile injecting equipment.

Best Practice

Tuesday also focused on Best Practice, a money-saving approach to sharing of information among global programmes that started in advertising and now is employed by the results-focused UNAIDS. For the session organised by UNAIDS, social workers and researchers came from all over the world to share what has worked and what has not in the field of Harm Reduction over the past year. Researchers focused on the Best Practice Collection compiled by UNAIDS, that focused on Intravenous drug users (IDUs). IDUs are one of the social groups most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.

Both Asia and Eastern Europe reported successes resulting from Harm Reduction practices like needle exchanges in lowering the rate of transmission of HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Sara Kershnar of the Harm Reduction Coalition addressed why Harm Reduction as a drug policy is contested in the US: ôUnlike most European countries, in the US, housing and health care is not considered a basic human right. More, there is ban of Federal support for needle exchanges despite their proven effectiveness in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C.ö