Updates from the AIDS 2022 Conference

The AIDS2022 conference is taking place in Montreal, with experts in the field of HIV/AIDS sharing knowledge and experience related to the virus.

Advocation for people who use drugs was present during the conference, with the stigma and judgement faced by people who inject drugs being addressed as barriers to seeking care; it was reinforced that everyone should be able to access affordable, quality care irrespective of their drug use status. Virginia Macdonald of the World Health Organisation strongly recommended the implementation of needle & syringe exchange programs and overdose prevention care.

As well as this, activists demanded stronger action to be taken from the world health organization against Monkeypox, through urgent scaled up and equitable vaccine access. The activists emphasized lifting intellectual property barriers, and the need for a plan for prevention, treatment and care.

Click here for more information on the conference.

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.

New Steering Committee Members

We are happy to announce the New Steering Committee members!

Based on the results of the voting process and the specific profiles developed for this selection process, the following candidates have been elected: Tony Duffin, Daan van der Gouwe, Roisin Downes and Perrine Roux.

Also, C-EHRN would like to take the opportunity to thank all the members that submitted an application. Also, to emphasize the high level of expertise and the excellent applications received for this election.

 

In the coming days, the newly elected members will participate in its first Steering Committee Meeting. In this event, they will have the opportunity to meet the current remaining members and to connect with those who leave their seats.

C-EHRN would like to invite you all to join us in congratulating the four new committee members. We are truly excited to start working with them!

Request for Proposals

As part of an Operating Grant for our activities in 2022, C-EHRN is looking for different
experts and consultants and strongly encourages professionals within the Network to
submit proposals. Due to funding regulations, we specifically invite candidates from the
EU Member States, whose GNI per inhabitant is less than 90% of the EU average.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THE CONSULTANCY
1. To conduct a scoping review of current literature and methodological guidelines for the
development of community-based and community-led research.
2. To collect and analyse good practice examples (at least 5 cases) of community-based
and/or community-led research projects in the field of harm reduction and drug use,
preferably in the European context
3. To organise an online consultation/focus group with experts in the field to assess
critical factors for the development and implementation of community-based and
community-led research
4. To conduct interviews with selected experts in the field to complement desk research
for points 1 and 2.
5. To prepare a report (20 to 30 pages) and a policy brief with recommendations (3 to 5
pages) based on the outcomes of the online consultation, the good practice examples
collection and the literature review.
6. To participate in the C-EHRN Expert meeting, to present and discuss preliminary
findings and collect additional input for the report.

HOW TO APPLY
To be eligible as a consultant, individuals must comply with C-EHRN’s Mission and Vision,
which you can find at the following link:
https://www.correlation-net.org/mission/
.Applicants must submit a short letter of interest and a CV. These documents should
reflect the candidate’s competency to complete the consultancy, including references to
the requested skills, knowledge and professional experience.
Please, submit this information to administration@correlation-net.org until the 27th of
May 2022, 23:59 CET. In the subject line of your e-mail, please indicate the Reference
Number, the title of the Consultancy and your name:
Reference Number | Consultancy Title | Name & Family Name
Note: if these documents are not submitted in full, the application will not be considered.

MORE INFORMATION
For more information, contact administration@correlation-net.org.

View the full call for proposals here

C-EHRN SC Elections

This coming May the Steering Committee (SC) elections will take place and we want to ensure that our committee is as diverse, motivated and well informed as it should be – to become a crucial voice in guiding our journey. As a C-EHRN Member, you are eligible to submit an application for this process either as an organization OR as an individual. The deadline for submissions is Thursday, May 12th 2022.

As per normal practice outlined in the Terms of Reference [ToR], half of the current Steering Committee members will rotate and half will remain. This means that, for this election, we are looking to fill 4 positions.

What is the Steering Committee?
The Steering Committee (SC) is one of the most important governing bodies of C-EHRN. The major goal of the SC is to facilitate the fulfilment of the Network’s mission by developing and supporting policies, strategies and operational implementations in a nutshell, the tasks of the SC involve:

  • To initiate the discussion on specific issues, related to activities and/or critical issues.
  • To represent the Network at European, regional and national meetings and conferences, including the interaction with multilateral organisations and political bodies.
  • To advocate and negotiate on behalf of the Network interests in the various working fields on European, regional, national and local levels.
  • To develop, implement, monitor and evaluate future plans, priorities, projects and activities of the network in consolation with various stakeholders in Europe.
  • To review and decide upon the planning and execution of annual action plans.
  • To provide technical guidance on the Network priority areas in relation to their specific field of experience.

Who is currently a Member of the Steering Committee?
After this rotation, Alina Bocai, Marianela Kloka, Christos Anastasio and Peter Sarosi remain as Members of the SC. C-EHRN would like to express its gratitude to all rotating Members of the SC for all their commitment, contributions, support and passion for the Network. Thank you Tuukka Tammi, Dirk Schaefer, Jose Queiroz and John-Peter Kools. 

Interesting! But… am I eligible to apply?
All C-EHRN Members can stand for election and are eligible to vote. However, outlined by the ToR, C-EHRN Management Team “may develop a specific profile for the vacancy in the SC, in order to ensure a balanced composition of the SC in terms of experience and expertise”. To complement the expertise and experiences of the current members of the SC, on this occasion, we would like to call for SC Member applications from any of the following areas:

  • Youth and young adults [under 30 years old] working in the field of harm reduction or related drug policy field.
  • Harm reduction professionals working in any of the following areas: drug-checking, safer nightlife, festivals or other recreational settings.
  • Harm reduction professionals providing services for people of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and sex characteristics; people living with HIV; or sex workers.
  • Drug policy professionals with a strong advocacy experience both at national and international levels.

Equally, C-EHRN would like to strongly encourage proposals of candidates across all the spectrums of lived experience of drug use, gender, sexual orientation, sex characteristics, involvement in sex work, homelessness, ethnic origin, age, physical or neural ability, migratory background, religious belief or responsibility for dependants.

Sounds like a good fit! How do I apply?
Applications are open from now until Thursday, May 12th  2022. To apply, you are required to complete this application form (click the link) and this form of consent. Once completed, you can submit all everything by email to administration.co@correlation-net.org

What’s the timeline?
The timeline for the elections is as follows:

  • Deadline for applications | Thursday 12th May 2022
  • Publication of candidates | Thursday 19th May 202
  • Voting | 19th May – June 1st 2022
  • Announcement of results | Thursday, June 2nd 2022

Great! However, after reading this, I still have some questions
No problem! If you have a question, please drop the C-EHRN office an email at administration@correlation-net.org

NGOs call for implementation of measures to ensure continuity of HIV and opioid dependency treatment for people displaced by the war in Ukraine

On 21 April, NGOs working with and representing the interests of communities of people living with and affected by HIV, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis and drug dependence in Europe addressed a letter to governments in the EU and EU institutions. The organisations report on the great will of various partners to accommodate the needs of people escaping the war but also major obstacles, especially regarding access to opiod agonist therapy. Therefore, the NGOs call on governments in the EU and EU institutions to implement a set of urgent measures:

  1. Facilitate GDPR-proof medical data exchange 
  2. As a good clinical practice, ensure that previous diagnoses are accepted, people are prescribed the same regimens and take-home dosages of OAT as in Ukraine as much as possible 
  3. To promote and follow the recommendations being set in the Standardized Protocol for clinical management and Medical Data-Sharing for people living with HIV among refugees from Ukraine and to collaborate with WHO on the development of a similar protocol for the refugees from the Ukraine who are OAT patients 
  4. Support EU member states with emergency procurement and exchange of medications, as needed, to ensure methadone (tables), buprenorphine, dolutegravir-based antiretroviral therapy, pediatric antiretroviral medications and similar Ukraine-prevalent treatments are made available for continuation in all border and other neighbouring countries 
  5. Establish a pool of translation support for clinicians and Ukrainian refugees and utilise automated translation services to overcome barriers in refugee services and clinical settings 
  6. Support outreach and contacts by HIV and drug treatment experts and NGOs in refugee centres, including the sensitization of staff and urgently identify people in need of uninterrupted daily treatment 
  7. Introduce simplified initiation of essential treatment to all Ukrainians with or without refugee status based on their passport data 
  8. Ensure that monitoring systems and hotlines are available to clinicians and other service providers to immediately solve the health issues affecting Ukrainian refugees.

Download and read the letter here 

Webinar | Crisis of Harm Reduction Funding

Crisis in Harm Reduction Funding. Opportunities for Governments to act in South-Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network, the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association and the Drug Policy Network of South-Eastern Europe are hosting an online discussion about the funding challenges and opportunities for governments to the crisis of harm reduction services in SEE countries and the Balkans.

The webinar will take place on the 20th of April from 13:00h to 14:30h CET

Countries of South-Eastern Europe and the Balkans, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia, are experiencing relatively high levels of HIV and HVC infection among people who inject drugs, including those who inject psychoactive substances. However, due to limited domestic resources and the gradual withdrawal of the Global Fund from the region, the governments of these countries are facing a lack of resources to continue the long-term funding of comprehensive harm reduction programmes. In addition to these and other barriers, in some countries, there is no legal basis for NGOs to provide services to marginalized populations, including people who use drugs.

During this webinar, C-EHRN, EHRA and DPNSE will present the research they have conducted in the area and discuss its key findings, which include among others:

Common challenges of scaling-up harm reduction programmes in the countries of South-Eastern Europe.

Consequences of the limited funding of the harm reduction services for public health and national healthcare systems.

Opportunities available for the governments of the region to act and invest funds and efforts in effective and proven models of harm reduction in their respective countries.

 

To register, please fill in the form here https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-4Dh14MmQumJc3mPJxZgOw

In the meantime, you may access the report here.

Request for proposals – consultants and experts

As part of an Operating Grant for our activities in 2022, C-EHRN is looking for different experts and consultants. C-EHRN strongly encourages professionals within the Network to submit proposals and apply to any of the following consultancies before the 29th of April, 23:59 CET

C-EHRN2201 Consultant to monitor and evaluate the process, outputs and impact of the Network activities.
C-EHRN2202 Consultant to support the writing of a C-EHRN Technical Report and an Activity Report.
C-EHRN2203 Consultant to support the development and implementation of C-EHRN’s capacity-building activities.
C-EHRN2204 Consultant to support the writing and editing of publications.
C-EHRN2205 Consultant to prepare a report and a policy brief on integrated and people-centred care models in harm reduction.
C-EHRN2206 Consultant to prepare a report and a policy brief on harm reduction in custody settings.
C-EHRN2207 Consultant to prepare a report and a policy brief on national harm reduction networks.

Due to funding regulations, we specifically invite candidates from any of the following EU Member States to apply: Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia.

More information? administration@correlation-net.org

New report – The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2021

Harm Reduction International has monitored the use of the death penalty for drug offences worldwide since its first ground-breaking publication on this issue in 2007. This report, their eleventh on the subject, continues their work of providing regular updates on legislative, policy and practical developments related to the use of capital punishment for drug offences, a practice which is a clear violation of international law.

The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2021 found that:

Read the report

Harm reduction services in the Netherlands: recent developments and future challenges

A new report (9 March) from the Dutch Harm Reduction Network (HRN) provides an update on harm reduction services in the Netherlands, based on an investigation conducted in 2021.

HRN monitors the state of affairs of HR services in the Netherlands, and provides regular updates. It is part of the department of Drugs at the Trimbos Institute and funded by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS).

The report is the result of data collected through interviews with employees in different harm reduction services: drug consumption rooms (DCRs), opioid substitution treatment centres (OSTs), heroin-assisted treatment units (HATs) and needle and syringe exchange programmes (NSPs).

The aim of the report is to provide a brief overview of the current state of affairs of harm reduction (HR) services in the Netherlands and to present recent developments and future challenges.  The main topics of interest in the study were:

Read the report