For young people who use drugs in Asia and the Pacific, services that could improve their health, encourage recovery and bring about a better quality of life are often denied. Stigma, discriminatory laws and policies prevent many of them from accessing the benefits of harm reduction programmes. Schools also do not always facilitate access to support, but can exclude them from education, thereby increasing their vulnerability and long-term employment and life opportunities.
Eliminating those barriers was the focus of “Access to Harm Reduction Services for Young People Who Inject Drugs in Asia and the Pacific”, a session held on 20 October as part of the 24th International Harm Reduction Conference (IHRC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Youth LEAD ran the session, which was supported by UNESCO Bangkok.
The dynamic and interactive discussion brought together advocates for marginalized youth from throughout the region for a discussion on systems that too often fail the health needs of young people. The youth advocates at the session closed by issuing a call to action for governments to revisit their policies and focus on measures that not only make harm reduction services more accessible and drug use less of a punitive measure, but also that recognize the transformative power of young people. Such measures include removing age restrictions and parental consent requirements as well as disseminating clear guidance for health workers and ensuring that young people are not subject to compulsory detention for drug dependency treatment. Issues around family and parental engagement and challenges in the education sector were also
For more information on the session please read the article here, the infographic click here and the video produced by Youth LEAD here.