Drug related harm reduction in the eu and candidate countries - success and gaps
<p><span>Background: </span>Evaluation of the state of play of the 2003 Council Recommendation on the prevention and reduction of health-related harms, associated with drug dependence, in the EU and candidate countries and elaboration of proposals for new recommendations.</p>...
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| Format: | Article |
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Milano University Press
2015-04-01
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| Series: | Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Public Health |
| Online Access: | http://ebph.it/article/view/11176 |
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| author | Martin Busch Alexander Grabenhofer-Eggerth Charlotte Klein Di Marion Weigl |
| author_facet | Martin Busch Alexander Grabenhofer-Eggerth Charlotte Klein Di Marion Weigl |
| author_sort | Martin Busch |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p><span>Background: </span>Evaluation of the state of play of the 2003 Council Recommendation on the prevention and reduction of health-related harms, associated with drug dependence, in the EU and candidate countries and elaboration of proposals for new recommendations.</p><p><span>Methods: </span>Analysis of epidemiological data available at the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) using statistical modeling, a general literature review on harm reduction measures, four systematic literature reviews (one on peer naloxone pro-grams) and surveys among decision makers in the field of drug policy and among harm reduc-tion providers (“stakeholders”) using online questionnaires and a gap survey among the na-tional focal points of EMCDDA in EU-countries and candidate countries.</p><p><span>Results: </span>It was possible to decrease the number of HIV-infections among drug users substan-tially in most EU countries and candidate countries during the last decade; unfortunately for the numbers of deaths due to overdoses this effect could not be reached. Stakeholders (harm reduction providers) name improvement of needle and syringe exchange and harm reduction in prison as main priorities in order to reduce drug related infectious diseases. Concerning re-duction of mortality they prioritise peer naloxone programs, drug consumption rooms and first aid training of drug users.</p><p><span> Conclusions : </span>The increase of coverage of substitution treatment and of the availability of nee-dle exchange programs in most countries can be seen as successes of harm reduction policy although the coverage especially of the latter still needs improvement. Peer naloxone pro-grams and improvement of harm reduction in (and after) prison are two of 13 recommended actions to improve the situation concerning mortality of opioid users. Continuous political strengthening of harm reduction is necessary.</p> |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d67e18fdfe484d1097c11abc8df66571 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2282-0930 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2015-04-01 |
| publisher | Milano University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-d67e18fdfe484d1097c11abc8df665712025-08-20T02:55:09ZengMilano University PressEpidemiology, Biostatistics and Public Health2282-09302015-04-0112110.2427/1117610395Drug related harm reduction in the eu and candidate countries - success and gapsMartin Busch0Alexander Grabenhofer-Eggerth1Charlotte Klein2Di Marion Weigl3Gesundheit Österreich GmbH, Stubenring 6 1010 Wien, AustriaGesundheit Österreich GmbH, Stubenring 6 1010 Wien, AustriaGesundheit Österreich GmbH, Stubenring 6 1010 Wien, AustriaGesundheit Österreich GmbH, Stubenring 6 1010 Wien, Austria<p><span>Background: </span>Evaluation of the state of play of the 2003 Council Recommendation on the prevention and reduction of health-related harms, associated with drug dependence, in the EU and candidate countries and elaboration of proposals for new recommendations.</p><p><span>Methods: </span>Analysis of epidemiological data available at the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) using statistical modeling, a general literature review on harm reduction measures, four systematic literature reviews (one on peer naloxone pro-grams) and surveys among decision makers in the field of drug policy and among harm reduc-tion providers (“stakeholders”) using online questionnaires and a gap survey among the na-tional focal points of EMCDDA in EU-countries and candidate countries.</p><p><span>Results: </span>It was possible to decrease the number of HIV-infections among drug users substan-tially in most EU countries and candidate countries during the last decade; unfortunately for the numbers of deaths due to overdoses this effect could not be reached. Stakeholders (harm reduction providers) name improvement of needle and syringe exchange and harm reduction in prison as main priorities in order to reduce drug related infectious diseases. Concerning re-duction of mortality they prioritise peer naloxone programs, drug consumption rooms and first aid training of drug users.</p><p><span> Conclusions : </span>The increase of coverage of substitution treatment and of the availability of nee-dle exchange programs in most countries can be seen as successes of harm reduction policy although the coverage especially of the latter still needs improvement. Peer naloxone pro-grams and improvement of harm reduction in (and after) prison are two of 13 recommended actions to improve the situation concerning mortality of opioid users. Continuous political strengthening of harm reduction is necessary.</p>http://ebph.it/article/view/11176 |
| spellingShingle | Martin Busch Alexander Grabenhofer-Eggerth Charlotte Klein Di Marion Weigl Drug related harm reduction in the eu and candidate countries - success and gaps Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Public Health |
| title | Drug related harm reduction in the eu and candidate countries - success and gaps |
| title_full | Drug related harm reduction in the eu and candidate countries - success and gaps |
| title_fullStr | Drug related harm reduction in the eu and candidate countries - success and gaps |
| title_full_unstemmed | Drug related harm reduction in the eu and candidate countries - success and gaps |
| title_short | Drug related harm reduction in the eu and candidate countries - success and gaps |
| title_sort | drug related harm reduction in the eu and candidate countries success and gaps |
| url | http://ebph.it/article/view/11176 |
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