Bibliography: Interventions – Harm Reduction

This review outlines policy recommendations made in the 2014 World Health Organisation (WHO) Guidelines on Screening, Care and Treatment of HCV and their relevance to PWID (Drug Policy)

Continuation of methadone maintenance during incarceration could contribute to greater treatment engagement after release, which could in turn reduce the risk of death from overdose and risk behaviours (The Lancet)

Empirical evidence in the research literature suggests that bystander naloxone administration and overdose education programs are associated with increased odds of recovery and with improved knowledge of overdose recognition and management in non-clinical settings (Injury Epidemiology)

Women and girls who inject drugs are more likely than their male counterparts to acquire HIV. In addition to criminalization, punitive laws, and social stigma that puts all injecting drug users at increased risk, women are made even more vulnerable by social, economic, and culturally embedded power imbalances (JAIDS)

Vytenis Andriukaitis, the EU’s Health and Food Safety Commissioner, said that the executive has no intention of submitting a new strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm in Europe, suggesting that the issue will be tackled as part of a broad range of “risk factors” affecting chronic diseases (Euractive)

Policy Briefing (New Zealand Medical Association)

This report reviews the impact of the Forum during 2014 and looks ahead by setting out recommendations that seek to reduce the numbers at risk (SFAD)

Economics and Public Health Policy (OECD)

This report on Needle Exchange Provision in Ireland is aimed at improving needle exchange coverage and enhancing service delivery as a way of reducing rates of new HCV and HIV infection and charts a way forward in identifying potential care pathways for drug and alcohol services in this country (HSE)

The first known randomized trial comparing three treatment strategies for opioid-dependent patients receiving emergency care has been conducted by researchers who found that patients given the medication buprenorphine were more likely to engage in addiction treatment and reduce their illicit opioid use (Science Daily)

Allowing more basic emergency medical service (EMS) staff to administer naloxone could reduce drug overdose deaths that involve opioids, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study

Submission on Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015 (RCPI)

The Roles and Capabilities of Social Workers (Manchester Metropolitan University)

Impact of Preventable HIV and Hepatitis Outbreaks in States (NASTAD)

This note captures the main points in the discussion at the summit, which was structured with the intent of sharing the early findings from Public Health England’s analysis of the ONS drug-related death data and data from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (DrugScope)

Protocol for Scotland’s public health policy evaluation, and a new measure to assess impact (Drugs: education, prevention, and policy)

The World Health Organization is launching a new policy on injection safety and a global campaign with support from the IKEA Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to help all countries tackle the pervasive issue of unsafe injections (WHO)

The toxicological margin of exposure (MOE) approach validates epidemiological and social science-based drug ranking approaches especially in regard to the positions of alcohol and tobacco (high risk) and cannabis (low risk) (Scientific Reports)

Advice for local authorities and local partners on promoting the wider availability of naloxone to reduce overdose deaths from heroin and similar drugs (PHE)

Before health professionals can communicate effectively with these clients about the potentially stigma-laden issue of HCV they need to develop an awareness of the various elements of risk in the ChemSex environment (BMJ)

The data gathered for the report provided a critical baseline against which progress could be measured in terms of international, regional and national recognition of harm reduction in policy and practice (Harm Reduction International)

The two EU agencies will continue to monitor the situation through their respective early warning systems (EMCDDA)

New review studies the effectiveness of overdose antidote, naloxone – trendspotter study explores online supply of drugs (EMCDDA)

Second phase of NEPTUNE project will improve delivery of evidence-based treatment for ‘club drugs’ by providing new resources for clinicians (NHS)

Can naloxone provided in the community help reduce the thousands of drug-induced deaths recorded in Europe every year? This is the question explored by the EMCDDA in a new paper

This guide is designed to provide councillors with an introduction to NPS, how they can raise awareness of the harm NPS use can cause and what councils can do to tackle sales of NPS in their areas (Local Government Association)

The drug market period in which injecting initiation occurred influenced the first drug injected and influenced some aspects of subsequent drug use. In the context of highly dynamic drug markets in which polydrug use is common there is a need for broad harm reduction and drug treatment services which are flexible and responsive to changing patterns of drug use (Drug Policy)