The VII cycle of the international Harm Reduction Academy, founded by the Alliance for Public Health ,takes place In Kyiv, June 1-5. The Academy traditionally brings together participants from around the world, and this time participants are from Kenya, Uganda, Myanmar, the Philippines, South Africa, Belarus and Uzbekistan.
The course of the Harm Reduction Academy brings together the experience and expertise of three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa. And this, definitely, is the very unique course that is relevant to everyone who works in the field of building harm reduction systems and humane drug policies around the world.
“The Harm Reduction Academy is a unique course on a global scale. Participants gain knowledge about the latest innovations, effective interventions, the most effective policy change mechanisms. These are critical knowledge and skills for successful HIV prevention among injecting drug users, a group without which it’s not working effectively to stop the HIV / AIDS epidemic,” – said Andriy Klepikov, executive director of the Alliance for Public Health.
It’s important to note that the Harm Reduction Academy is a global platform for learning and sharing experiences, including training, dialogue and skills building components to accelerate action to defeat AIDS and hepatitis C among people who inject drugs.
As part of the course, students study the theory and practice of harm reduction programs in the form of lectures and in combination with visits to organizations providing harm reduction services in three countries: Ukraine, Kenya and Malaysia. Academy modules include three busy weeks of study in the following areas:
☑️ Harm reduction: principles, components, services.
☑️ Strategic information: monitoring, evaluation, research.
☑️ Policy: environment, resource mobilization, advocacy, community mobilization and empowerment
“Participation in this course has helped me to understand much better how programs are being implemented, and what are the needs of injecting drug users in other countries. We hope that we can optimize our programs with these needs in mind …”, – said Andrew Preston, a participant in the VI cycle of the Academy, from the UK.
“I really liked the innovative and proactive approach to the implementation of interventions, for example, programs that are implemented by peers, self-testing, community-initiated ART programs …”, – said Dr. Samaruddin Samardza Zaza, a participant in the fourth cycle of the Academy, project manager of the Ministry of Health of Afghanistan.
According to the organizers, the diverse international experience of the participants and invited experts allows the students of the course to find optimal solutions for any problematic issues they encounter during the work on harm reduction, in particular when planning programs, communicating with stakeholders, as well as solving organizational and management issues in the context of limited resources.
Founder and organizer of the Harm Reduction Academy: Alliance for Public Health
Technical partner: Alliance Consultancy.
The VII cycle of the Academy is supported by the Fast Track Cities project, PITCH Project in Ukraine (“Partnership for Inspiration, Transformation and Consolidation of HIV Response”), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and OSF.
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▶️ You can get more information about the program, feedback from participants and learn how to participate in the next course on website.
Text, foto: Inna Gavrylova