Data Report Launch Recording

Online launch of the 2022 Civil Society Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe.

 

C-EHRN hosted an online launch and discussion of the 2022 Monitoring Report on the 23rd February. During this webinar, key findings and results in Essential Harm Reduction Services, Hepatitis C and Drug Use, and New Drug Trends in Europe were discussed. Implications and opportunities for civil society advocacy, service provision and policy development were also addressed.

 

Speakers;

Katrin Schiffer (CEHRN), Rafaela Rigoni (CEHRN), Iga Jeziorska (CEHRN), Daan van der Gouwe (Trimbos-Instituut), Tuukka Tammi (THL), Perrine Roux (Inserm), Mat Southwell (EuroNPUD) and Alexei Lahov (Humanitarian Action).

 

Watch the full recording here.

 

Monitoring Executive Summaries 2022

Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network, together with its Focal Points, presents the Executive Summary of its Data Report 2022 in ten languages to support increasing the impact and reach of our work on the local and national levels. The executive summaries are available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian, German, Italian, Polish, Czech and Greek. Download the executive summaries below.

Monitoring Data Report 2022

2022 was one of the most consequential in recent European history, witness to a series of overlapping crises: the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fast-growing population displacements, the MPOX outbreak, shrinking civil society spaces and the deepening of socioeconomic inequalities, among others.

Within this context, C-EHRN’s monitoring activities have been embedded with increased urgency. Whilst the effects of these developments have been felt in nearly everyone’s life, people who use drugs, as well as other marginalised and underserved communities, have particularly and disproportionately experienced its negative consequences. Equally, harm reduction organizations in Europe have been put to the test.

In combination with advocacy, the application of civil society-led monitoring tools is crucial to hold governments accountable and to improve the care and support that people who use drugs receive and their environments.

Together with more than one hundred organizations and individuals from thirty-four European countries, C-EHRN set up for itself the task to provide an in-depth look at Harm Reduction in Europe. To this end, the annual 2022 Data Report focused on three main themes: harm reduction essential services, Hepatitis C, and new drug trends. In addition to the data collected, this year C-EHRN conducted in-depth interviews with all its Focal Points, allowing for a richer picture of the developments from last year.

Read the Data Report 2022

Online Launch Data Report 2022

Civil Society Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe

Webinar Announcement

Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network is hosting an online launch and discussion of the fourth annual report of its civil society-led monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe. The webinar will take place on the 23rd of February, 2023, from 16:00h to 17:00h CET.

2022 was one of the most consequential in recent European history, witness to a series of overlapping crises: the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fast-growing population displacements, the MPOX outbreak, shrinking civil society spaces and the deepening of socioeconomic inequalities, among others.

Within this context, C-EHRN’s monitoring activities have been embedded with increased urgency. Whilst the effects of these developments have been felt in nearly everyone’s life, people who use drugs, as well as other marginalised and underserved communities, have particularly and disproportionately experienced its negative consequences. Equally, harm reduction organizations in Europe have been put to the test.

In combination with advocacy, the application of civil society-led monitoring tools is crucial to hold governments accountable and to improve the care and support that people who use drugs receive and their environments.

Together with more than one hundred organizations and individuals from thirty-four European countries, C-EHRN set up for itself the task to provide an in-depth look at Harm Reduction in Europe. To this end, the annual 2022 Data Report focused on three main themes: harm reduction essential services, Hepatitis C, and new drug trends. In addition to the data collected, this year C-EHRN conducted in-depth interviews with all its Focal Points, allowing for a richer picture of the developments from last year.

During this webinar, C-EHRN will launch and discuss its annual 2022 Data Report, including key findings, results and opportunities for civil society advocacy, service provision and policy development.

The webinar is open to harm reduction activists and service providers, civil society representatives, researchers, policy-makers and the media. The event will be held in English.

Further information:

Roberto Perez Gayo
rpgayo@correlation-net.org

Webinar on New Drug Trends

On October 12 2022 at 16:00 CET we are delighted to be hosting a webinar on ‘Processes and Progress of Civil Society Monitoring of New Drugs Trends’.

This webinar will be the last of our monitoring webinar series which has explored the findings of our 2021 Data Report.

We are excited to share the final programme of the webinar with you;

Programme

  1. Welcome  |  Rafaela Rigoni [C-EHRN] [3 minutes]
  2. Presentation on the Progress of Monitoring New Drug Trends from a Civil Society perspective | Daan van de Gouwe [Trimbos Instituut]  [15 mins – 10 min presentation; 5  min Q & A with participants]
  3. Discussion Panel  | Lies Gremeaux [Sciensano]  |  Laura Smit Ritger [DIMS], Mireia Ventura [Energy Control], Tony Duffin [Ana Liffey], & Daan van de Gouwe [Trimbos Instituut]. Moderator: Rafaela Rigoni [C-EHRN] [25 mins]
  4. Q&A with participants [15 minutes]
  5. Closing remarks  |  Rafaela Rigoni [C-EHRN] [2 minutes]

Feedback for Initiative on New Drug Precursors

The European Commission are requesting feedback for new drug precursors, looking to amend EU legislation to include new precursors used for illicit drug manufacturing.

New drug precursors have emerged and need to be added to EU legislation controlling these substances. That is the purpose of this initiative. Some of the new precursors were already added to the United Nations list at the 65th Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

The Commission would like to hear your views.
This draft act is open for feedback for 4 weeks. Feedback will be taken into account for finalising this initiative. Feedback received will be published on this site and therefore must adhere to the feedback rules.
Feedback period
02 September 2022 – 30 September 2022  (midnight Brussels time)

Re-emergence of Injecting Cocaine Found in Ireland

The Syringe Analysis Pilot Project 2022 has identified a re-emergance of injecting cocaine, as well as the arrival of 3-Methylmethcathinone (3-MMC).

The Syrienge Analysis Pilot Project involves a collaboration between a laboratory and community services to analyse the current drug situation in Ireland and to inform health-led responses.

The pilot uses syrienge analysis to obtain information through the analysis of the content of used syrienges to help identify drug trends. The project obtained 155 used syrienges in order to conduct their research.

The significant re-emergance of injecting cociane was reported as being 86.5% in Dublin, and 89.1% in Midlands.

3-MMC was found to be present in 11.3% of Dublin syringes and 23.6% of Midlands ones. 3-MMC was only one of 32 different drugs and metabolites found in the syrienges tested in this pilot.

Open Call: C-EHRN Expert Groups & Consultations

As part of our 2022 work plan, C-EHRN is working with different Expert Groups and will organize consultations addressing a variety of topics. With this open call, C-EHRN would like to invite all its members and partners to engage and participate in these Expert Groups and Consultations based on their interest and expertise in any of the following areas:

  1. Hepatitis & Drug Use
  2. Coverage of Harm Reduction in Europe
  3. New Drug Trends
  4. National Harm Reduction Networks
  5. Harm Reduction in Prison and other Custody Settings
  6. Integrated & People-centred Care Models
  7. Community-based & Community-led Research

If you wish to participate, we invite you to express your interest and share a brief description of your area of expertise [max. 100 words] through the following email: administration@correlation-net.org before the 31st of July 2022.

Online Webinars 2022

Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network is excited to invite you to the online webinar series of its Civil Society Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe in 2021. In the coming months, we would like to invite you to join us in discussing the main key findings of our Data Report 2021 in a series of dialogues with harm reduction professionals, policymakers, researchers and European agencies, among others:

Webinar 01 | Launch Monitoring Report 2021
11th of May 16:00h – 16:45h

Webinar 02 | Hepatitis C & Drug Use
15th of June 16:00h – 17:00h

Webinar 03 | State & Challenges of Overdose Prevention 
13th of July 16:00h – 17:00h

Webinar 04 | COVID-19 Impacts on Harm Reduction
14th of September 16:00h – 17:00h

Webinar 05 | Monitoring New Drugs Trends
12th of October 16:00h – 17:00h

Monitoring Data Report 2021

 

The main aim and purpose of C-EHRN monitoring activities is to improve knowledge and information and complement existing data and monitoring efforts in Europe in specific areas of harm reduction based on the perspective of civil society organisations (CSOs). The data collected helps us to assess the implementation of certain drug and health policies at the national and local levels and supports our advocacy efforts at the European and EU Member State levels.

The adapted 2021 civil society monitoring incorporated the experiences from the past years. During evaluation meetings with our expert groups, it was decided to keep most of the questionnaires in 2020 intact for 2021. That was done both because the questionnaire of 2020 has worked reasonably well and also to allow for comparisons between 2021 and the previous year.

We kept our focus on the situation at the city level which allowed for more accurate and precise information. Consequently, the information provided in this report sometimes represents the situation in a particular city or region. Although this information is not representative of a country, it reflects the fact that the situation in a country is diverse and most often dependent upon the approach at the city level. Small modifications were made for clarity in the sections on essential harm reduction services, overdose prevention, Hepatitis C, civil society involvement and new drug trends. More modifications were made in the COVID-19 section to cover a new phase of the pandemic.

In addition to the survey, and on an experimental basis, the expert groups decided to try new forms of data collection. In 2 countries – Finland and the UK – online Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) will be performed to gather data on new drug trends. That was decided due to the low response rate in the online survey and also due to feedback from our Focal Points that this remains the most difficult section of the survey to complete.

More than one hundred organisations and individuals from 34 European countries have contributed to this Monitoring Report. Thanks go to our Focal Points and associated experts at the national and local levels who have filled in the online questionnaire and provided all information and data on time. Without their dedication and commitment, we would not have been able to produce this report.