NewsNews

 

Africa and the Middle East

  

Asia and the Pacific

   

Europe and Eurasia

 

 

 
Latin America and the Caribbean

 

 

 

  

North America
AdvocateAdvocate Focus
Sergey Votyagov
Executive Director, Eurasian Harm Reduction Network
 

"Lack of priority placed on drug user health and on their communities translates into governments' unwillingness to allocate any funds for harm reduction, which almost fully depend on donor investments."

  

Sergey Votyagov is the executive director of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN) based in Vilnius, Lithuania. EHRN advocates for the universal human rights of people who use drugs and promotes evidence-based harm-reduction approaches to drug use. Votyagov has worked on HIV-related issues since 2004 and became more directly involved in harm reduction advocacy when he joined EHRN in 2010. He was driven by his ambition to push for human rights for people who use drugs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where drug users have traditionally been criminalized and excluded. The HIV Policy and Advocacy Monitor spoke with Votyagov about working in this environment and some of EHRN's recent achievements.



PolicyPolicy Analysis
The Politics of Transition & the Economics of HIV: AIDS & PEPFAR in South Africa

This report, based on interviews with over 75 U.S. and South African government officials, PEPFAR implementing organizations, clinicians, civil society groups, and individuals living with HIV, documents the transition to country ownership of South Africa's response to HIV. It  discusses the transition's successes and the failures that need to be rectified to not lose ground in the epidemic. 

Nigeria Anti-gay Law: Community Calls for Support, Advocates Call for Action 

Science Speaks

 

http://sciencespeaksblog.org/2014/01/15/nigeria-anti-gay-law-community-calls-for-support-advocates-call-for-action/ 

 

This blog post considers Nigeria's new anti-gay law and its implications for the country's response to HIV. The analysis also evaluates the international community's response to the law and the current needs of human rights organizations in Nigeria. 

South Africa's IP Policy Object of U.S.-based "Campaign to Prevent Damage" to Big Pharma

Science Speaks

 

http://sciencespeaksblog.org/2014/01/17/south-africas-ip-policy-object-of-u-s-based-campaign-to-prevent-damage-to-big-pharma/ 

 

This blog post discusses the controversy over South Africa's Draft National Policy on Intellectual Property and highlights the competing interests and stakeholders involved in policy development. U.S. and South African pharmaceutical companies have proposed an advocacy campaign to oppose the IP policy, which would make patents on potentially life-saving drugs more difficult to obtain.

The State of Trans* and Intersex Organizing: A Case for Increased Support for Growing but Under-Funded Movements for Human Rights  

Global Action for Trans* Equality

 

http://globaltransaction.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/trans-intersex-funding-report.pdf  

 

Summarizing the findings from a global survey of 340 transgender and intersex groups, this report analyzes the current challenges these groups face in accessing resources for their activities and programs. It concludes that there is a need for increased information and knowledge among donors to increase funding for transgender and intersex programs.

NewNew Resources: Models, Tools, and Research
The World Bank and Global Health: Time for a Renewed Focus on Health Policy
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (subscription only)

 

http://jech.bmj.com/content/68/1/1.short 

 

According to the author, under the leadership of Jim Yong Kim, a global health expert, the World Bank must leverage its unique role in the formation of health and development policies to promote global health equity. Rather than addressing specific pandemics, the Bank should instead focus on developing health systems and policies to achieve sector-wide results.
Outcomes of the Botswana National HIV/AIDS Treatment Programme from 2002 to 2010:
A Longitudinal Analysis
The Lancet (subscription only) 

 

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(13)70149-9/fulltext 

 

The researchers analyzed the implementation of Botswana's national ART program and found that the mortality rate among HIV-positive adults has declined to the level of other low-to middle-income countries.

Road Map for Implementing and Monitoring Policy and Advocacy Interventions
Health Policy Project

 

http://www.healthpolicyproject.com/index.cfm?id=publications&get=pubID&pubID=322 

 

The Road Map --- now available for electronic use --- helps organizations understand the different actions needed during the process of policy development, implementation, and evaluation. It provides a variety of tools to help analyze policy development and lays out the steps an organization should follow to put policy reforms into action.

AdvocacyAdvocacy
Global Health and Human Rights Database

 

http://www.globalhealthrights.org/ 

 

"The Global Health and Human Rights Database is a free online database of law from around the world relating to health and human rights. Developed by Lawyers Collective and the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, in collaboration with a worldwide network of civil society partners, the database offers an interactive, searchable, and fully indexed website of case law, national constitutions, and international instruments."

Bringing Justice to Health: The Impact of Legal Empowerment Projects on Public Health

Open Society Foundations

 

http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/reports/bringing-justice-health

 

This report calls attention to human rights violations against the world's vulnerable populations and highlights the civil society response to such injustice, profiling 11 access to justice projects based in Indonesia, Kenya, Macedonia, Russia, South Africa, and Uganda. These projects use diverse approaches to improve the health and well-being of marginalized persons through the legal systems of each country.

An Open Letter to Africa's Leaders --- Joaquim Chissano, Former President of Mozambique

The Africa Report

 

http://www.theafricareport.com/Soapbox/an-open-letter-to-africas-leaders-joaquim-chissano-former-president-of-mozambique.html 

 

"We can no longer afford to discriminate against people on the basis of age, sex, ethnicity, migrant status, sexual orientation and gender identity, or any other basis --- we need to unleash the full potential of everyone."

 

"'To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains,' Nelson Mandela reminded us, 'but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.'"  

Govt Told to Include HIV-infected People and Drug Users in JKN

The Jakarta Post

 

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/01/22/govt-told-include-hiv-infected-people-and-drug-users-jkn.html 

 

The Indonesia AIDS Coalition (IAC) has stated that the Indonesian government's national health insurance program (JKN), which took effect January 1, 2014, should cover people with HIV. There is confusion about whether HIV is covered under the program, which does not include treatment for health problems resulting from drug use. The IAC has called this policy discriminatory and says it excludes those who desperately need healthcare services.

InterviewInterview with Sergey Votyagov

EHRN operates in challenging policy environments where drug use and drug users are highly stigmatized. Numerous political, social, and cultural factors affect the provision of basic health services for people who use drugs, and criminalization and discrimination are consistent barriers to healthcare access. For example, opioid substitution treatment is banned in Russia, and many former Soviet countries have repressive policies and law enforcement practices on drug use, which undermine public health and waste public resources.

 

HIV Policy and Advocacy Monitor: What led you to work in harm-reduction policy and advocacy?

 

Sergey Votyagov: In many countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA), there is an environment in which drug dependence is not a health issue, but a criminal concern. There is a need to convince donors and governments that drug dependence issues are a part of a broader public health challenge in the region. I wanted to contribute to strengthening the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network and be a part of this challenging work, promoting harm reduction as the most humane and effective way to protect the health and lives of people who use drugs and to help their communities.

 

HIV Policy and Advocacy Monitor: Why is policy important for harm reduction?

 

Sergey Votyagov: In some EECA countries, there's a lot of debate about whether harm reduction is an essential service, effective, or even whether it should have a legal base to exist. Law enforcement interprets drug policy as a mandate to restrict a drug user's access to basic life-saving services and to disregard their basic human rights. Violations and discrimination pervade medical settings where drug users seek help. Lack of priority placed on drug user's health and on their communities translates in governments' unwillingness to allocate any funds for harm reduction, which almost fully depend on donor investments in EECA.

 

HIV Policy and Advocacy Monitor: Can you describe EHRN's policy and advocacy efforts?

 

Sergey Votyagov: A recent success for EHRN is the Civil Society Action Team (CSAT), a project intended to engage civil society in the Global Fund processes. With an HIV epidemic driven by injecting drug use in this region, we wanted to make sure these issues and needs are represented in Country Coordination Mechanisms and Global Fund Board Delegations to help ensure that harm-reduction programs are a part of a country's Global Fund proposals and that countries from EECA continue to be eligible for the Global Fund. This project helped EHRN to be recognized as a key organization in the region that is successfully engaging community representatives and civil society in the Global Fund process. As the Global Fund began implementing the New Funding Model, EHRN was invited to be an early applicant. It will receive a first-of-its-kind Global Fund regional grant fully focused on advocacy for harm reduction and drug user community systems strengthening.

 

HIV Policy and Advocacy Monitor: What are some positive policy outcomes that you have seen?

 

Sergey Votyagov: There has been progress in many parts of EECA. Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, and Estonia have introduced policy changes that allowed for the introduction of harm-reduction programs in prisons. Ukraine has a vibrant civil society that is politically engaged, has successfully influenced policies, and works toward improving domestic spending for HIV services. A few harm-reduction organizations managed to raise funds from their municipal governments to cover the provision of harm-reduction services in Ukraine and even in Russia.

 

HIV Policy and Advocacy Monitor: What is the role of civil society in ensuring the sustainability of harm-reduction and HIV and AIDS programs?

 

Sergey Votyagov: In 2011, when the Global Fund cancelled Round 11 funding, many countries and organizations faced a wake-up call about the need for diverse funding sources for harm reduction. Civil society has an essential role in advocating for increased domestic spending on harm reduction and working to reduce the stigma around providing much-needed support to people who use drugs. Only through a well-developed civil society and by working with communities can sustainable programs be developed for those most in need.

 

 

For more information on EHRN and its work, visit its website at http://www.harm-reduction.org/ and read its recent report "Quitting while not ahead: The Global Fund's retrenchment and the looming crisis for harm reduction in Eastern Europe and Central Asia." 

  

Link: http://www.harm-reduction.org/library/2288-quitting-while-not-ahead-the-global-funds-retrenchment-and-the-looming-crisis-for-harm-reduction-in-eastern-europe-and-central-asia.html  

The USAID- and PEPFAR-funded Health Policy Project's HIV Policy and Advocacy Monitor is a monthly newsletter focusing on the advancement, development and analysis of policies, advocacy campaigns and organizations, and policy-related data to inform the response to HIV and AIDS at the global, national, and local levels. It includes news items, resources, advocacy reports, and innovative policy analyses on a wide range of topics such as treatment, key populations issues, gender, and financing for HIV policies and programs.

 

If you would like to suggest an item for inclusion in the next issue, please send it to: [email protected].

 


Join Our Mailing List
  Logo Bar: USAID/PEPFAR/HPP
About the Health Policy Project   
The Health Policy Project is a five-year cooperative agreement funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Cooperative Agreement No. AID-OAA-A-10-00067, beginning September 30, 2010. The project's HIV-related activities are supported by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). It is implemented by Futures Group, in collaboration with CEDPA (part of Plan International USA), Futures Institute, Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office (PPD ARO), Population Reference Bureau (PRB), RTI International, and the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood (WRA).