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4 –
Daily Update
– DAY ONE – Monday 4 April 2011
Setting in train
Simon Baldwin:
‘Our programme’s quite
different in that we... provide ongoing
support not just to the drug user but to the
employer throughout the process.’
The Daily Update
hears from
Simon Baldwin
of Family Health International
about the training he’ll be delivering throughout the conference
FAMILY HEALTH INTERNATIONAL
(FHI) has been helping to improve the lives of
some of the world’s most vulnerable people
for 40 years, working closely with 1,400
partner organisations in 125 countries. This
week delegates will have the chance to take
part in training sessions run by the
organisation’s global technical lead on HIV
and drug use, Simon Baldwin, alongside his
colleague Hough Thu.
The first, on setting up nationwide opioid
substitution treatment, will share findings
from a pilot programme in Vietnam, where
Simon is based, and focus on establishing a
workforce, training staff and mentoring, while
the second will look at designing vocational
training and employment programmes.
‘We’ll be describing a programme that
we’ve developed in Vietnam with people
who go on to the methadone programme
and all of a sudden have a lot more free
time,’ he says. ‘It’s about how we can get
them engaged in meaningful employment. A
lot of employment programmes for
marginalised groups in the developing world
have looked at giving everyone the same
training – so if you’re a drug user then you’re
going to be a motorbike mechanic or a
hairdresser. Our programme’s quite different
in that we try to match people’s interests and
needs to employment, and provide ongoing
support not just to the drug user but to the
employer throughout the process.’
The final session will look at a ‘multi-
sectoral service system’ for drug users,
analysing what makes an ‘ideal mix’ of
interventions. ‘Again, what we’ve found a lot
of the time in the developing world is that
countries will set up parallel programmes – a
methadone programme in one area, a needle
and syringe exchange programme some-
where else and maybe detoxification some-
where else,’ he says. ‘What we’re trying to
do is help people understand how important
it is to integrate all of those services, and in
doing so “reframe” success.’
By this he means defining success in terms
that go beyond just abstinence. ‘A lot of the
time everything else is regarded a failure. But if
we can look holistically at the service system –
getting a drug user into the system and in
contact with an appropriate service, be it a
needle and syringe programme, counselling,
vocational training or methadone – then even
if the drug use still continues, it’s much better
to have someone engaged with the system as
a whole to start to address their needs.’
The organisation has different working
methods depending on where it’s operating,
he stresses. ‘In some countries we provide
the services ourselves, in others we work
through local agencies that we subcontract
and provide with technical assistance, and in
others we work through the government if
they have the capacity – it depends on the
operating environment and the needs of the
different partners. For example in Vietnam
there’s not much of a civil society, whereas in
other places we do a lot of work through civil
society organisations.’
FHI has offices all around the world and has
done extensive work in the Middle East – it
has a programme operating in Egypt and has
recently worked in Jordan. What does he feel
about the state of harm reduction in the region
– is he happy with the rate of progress? ‘I think
globally we’re making a lot of progress but the
Middle East is a region that hasn’t had much
attention yet. There are a significant number of
people who need these services, so it’s a
wonderful sign that the conference is here and
hopefully it can leave a meaningful impact
behind, as it has in other parts of the world.’
Simon will be co-delivering
Setting up
a nationwide programme on opioid sub-
stitution treatment
today (Monday),
How
to set up a vocational training programme
for in-treatment drug users
tomorrow, and
What does a multi-sectoral service system
for drug users look like?
on Wednesday.
Sessions run at 11am-12.30pm – to sign
up visit IHRA in the dome this morning, or
the workshop room after that.