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about the new generation of hep C medicine – direct acting anti-virus drugs
without significant side effects – that meant cure rates of up to 100 per cent. ‘We
need to explore compulsory licences for safe and effective drugs,’ she said. ‘We
need to make sure they’re affordable.’
Calling for collective action, she added: ‘This is a matter of public health urgency,’
and encouraged delegates to sign an online petition at www.hepcoalition.org.
Michel Kazatchkine joined the session to give The Global Fund’s support in
advocating for hepatitis C and to launch the Russian edition of
The hidden global
hepatitis C epidemic
. ‘Two thirds of people who use drugs are affected by hepatitis
C,’ he said. ‘It’s treatable and curable but so few people are accessing treatment.’
‘WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT SEXWORK’
A HEALTHY AND SAFEWORKING ENVIRONMENT
IS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT
‘It’s critical that we are able to talk about sex as much as we talk about drugs,’ said
Cyndee Clay, executive director of the sex workers’ support organisation HIPS,
based in Washington, which offered non-judgemental support.
‘For some, sex work is a really hard thing they have to do, for others it’s the best
option at the time, and for others it’s what they like to do,’ she said. ‘That’s the
parallel with people who use drugs – there are varied experiences. We need to
open our minds to this reality.’
Programmes at HIPS were ‘client directed’ and ‘goal centred’, with participants
choosing what they were interested in, for instance reducing violence or making
more money. The common thread was to help those engaged in sex work to be
able to live healthy, self-determined, self-sufficient lives, free from stigma,
violence, criminalisation and oppression, she explained. A major part of the team’s
work involved challenging structural barriers to health, safety and prosperity.
Harm reduction was used as a philosophy – ‘what’s going to make you happier
today?’ – and the 100 volunteers and staff were trained to help look out for and
reduce isolation. For some, the service was the only support they had with the
biggest aspect of their life.
The important thing to think about in providing services was the need to
increase choice, reduce coercion and address circumstance, she said. ‘This unpacks
some of the ideas of whether sex work is good or bad… we need to be more
comfortable talking about sex and not make assumptions.’
Anita Schoepp, of the Canadian sex workers’ organisation Stella, said it was
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drinkanddrugsnews
| July 2013
Harm Reduction International |
Vilnius, 2013
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
TACKLING THE SILENT EPIDEMIC
PANELLISTS AT A SESSION ON HEPATITIS C CALLED FOR COLLECTIVE
ACTION TOMAKE TREATMENT HIGH ON EVERY POLITICAL AGENDA
‘Sixty per cent of people who inject drugs worldwide are infected with hepatitis C
– it’s the silent epidemic,’ said Azzi Momenghalibaf, chairing a session on access to
hepatitis C treatment, before asking panellists to give a snapshot of the situation
in their country.
‘In Russia we have a very large number of people infected – between 3m and
7m,’ said Sergey Golovin. ‘But these are unofficial figures – we do not have a
national programme.’
Fewer than 1 per cent of people with HCV in Russia were accessing treatment
and drugs were often left unused at hospitals as people were not coming forward.
‘We have highs and lows in Russia,’ he said, the highs being prices, prevalence of
HCV and need for treatment, and the lows being awareness, access and demand
for treatment. There were signs of activism for a state-funded programme and
pressure on producers to lower prices: ‘There will be action and protests,’ he said.
Amritananda Chakravorty spoke of the long fight ahead for drug users in India,
where they were seen as criminals rather than patients. ‘We need political
commitment at national and international level,’ she said. ‘It is the ultimate obligation
of the international community to respect the right to life of people who use drugs.’
Paisan Suwannawong outlined the scale of the challenge in Thailand, where
‘the government still excludes people who use drugs’. ‘We must continue to
educate and advocate for people with hepatitis C,’ he said. ‘The most important
thing is that we continue to fight for decriminalisation of people who use drugs
and access to healthcare.’
Dasha Ocheret of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network had been involved in
mapping data. ‘No one officially excludes people who use drugs from treatment,
but there are huge gaps between official policies and what actually happens,’ she
said. If people injected drugs in Russia, for example, they would have a very low
chance of treatment, depending on their doctor.
With the absence of good national guidelines, a ‘recent wave of activism’ was
playing its part in raising the profile of hep C treatment. In Ukraine the government
had reacted to pressure and adopted a treatment programme, and in Georgia civil
actions and patient groups had been successful in starting a hep C programme in
prisons.
‘We should never stop fighting for what’s right,’ said Karyn Kaplan, who talked
‘It’s critical that we are able to
talk about sex as much as we
talk about drugs.’
CYNDEE CLAY
‘We should never stop fighting
for what’s right... This is a matter
of public health urgency.’
KARYN KAPLAN