Harm Reduction International is pleased to invite you to Harm Reduction 2013. This international conference is a key event for all those interested in harm reduction around the world. The 2013 conference will include high profile Keynote speeches, Plenary Sessions, Major Sessions, Concurrent Sessions, Workshops, a Film Festival, a Poster Exhibition, Exhibition areas, a Dialogue Space, a dedicated track of events in the Russian language only and social and networking events. The main language of the conference will be English but simultaneous translation will be provided in Russian in all plenary and major rooms.
Conference theme
The theme of the Conference 2013 is 'The Value/s of harm reduction'. The theme calls on the urgent need to provide sufficient political and financial support to address the HIV epidemic driven by injecting drug use in many parts of the world, as well as the ethical basis of the harm reduction philosophy.
Special focus on Eurasia
The Eurasian region, comprising of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Central Asia, is home to over 3.7 million people who inject drugs, representing almost one-quarter of people who inject worldwide. Injecting drug use is driving HIV epidemics in most countries in Eurasia, where an estimated one million people who inject are living with HIV. In addition to HIV, people who inject drugs in the region experience an extremely high prevalence of hepatitis C, as well as high risk of overdose, which is the leading cause of death among opiate users in many countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Harm Reduction 2013 will focus on key issues affecting the Eurasian region including the retreat of donors, the lack of national government funding for harm reduction, the influence of repressive law enforcement and human rights abuses that currently take place in the countries of Eurasia.
