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Blog - Amplify your voice

HARM REDUCTION: It's about time!
by:  AFY_Mimi
Sunday, July 18, 2010 at 6:50:00 AM EDT
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For the first time in history of YouthForce, a coalition of youth-focused organizations that come together to organize, mobilize and prioritize youth at International AIDS Conferences (IAC), has finally placed HARM REDUCTION as a demand in our advocacy campaign. Given that the 2010 IAC is hosted this year in Eastern Europe, Vienna to be exact, the timing couldn’t have been more appropriate for harm reduction. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where the epidemic is largely driven by the growing number of young injection drug users, there are over one third of one million HIV-infected youth. Injection drug use accounts for 62 percent of new infections in the region.

As a part of the Vienna YouthForce campaign, we are demanding for the 3 HR's:

  • Health Resources
  • Human Rights
  • Harm Reduction
At the Pre-Conference, a 3-day conference of issue and skills-based sessions led by youth and designed by youth, we hosted two sessions that were focused specifically on harm reduction. One of the sessions were presented by Allen Frimpong from Youth RISE and myself titled, "How Comprehensive is Comprehensive Sex Education...without Drug Education?" Good question, right? In this session, we discussed our own values about drug use and sexuality and how vulnerabilities to HIV can exacerbate when knowledge about drugs are limited while young people are making decisions about their sexual health. We also discussed case studies of programs that carried out different approaches of education on sex and drugs with varied levels of information and how limited knowledge and skills of either can make it difficult for young people to safeguard their health, especially for most marginalized young people like drug users, sex workers and LGBT people. All of us really challenged our own judgments about people who use drugs and, at the same time, came together with a positive response on how we talk about people who use drugs and the right to information that empower them to make their own choices of both sex and drugs while reducing their harm. 

I'm excited to see how the message of harm reduction will play out at the Main Conference, particularly one of our YouthForce posters that says:
"Society has made young people invisible. Young drug users, sex workers, and those who are most at risk of contracting HIV. Realize a world where there are HARM REDUCTION programs instead of hate, stigma and discrimination. Include young people in drafting and implementing the policies that affect them. Create programs that provide information, services, and supplies so that young people can protect their health and lives." "Now make it happen."
So, let's make harm reduction happen and push for this at the IAC!

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