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Key issues: harm reduction

The harm reduction approach emerged in the late 1980's as a response to the increasing HIV prevalence among injecting drug users (IDUs). The response features a "practitioners" solution to a potential public health epidemic of HIV and AIDS in drug using populations, and was widely endorsed as a good strategy by health professionals and IDUs alike.

This key issues guide outlines what harm reduction is and its role in prevention of HIV. The guide also reviews the evidence for the effectiveness of the harm reduction approach, its adoption internationally and provides links to summaries of research and other resources.

Saving lives by reducing harm
Wrap of heroin
D. Tatlow / Panos Pictures
This report  argues that HIV infection is spreading rapidly among intravenous drug users (IDU) because of a lack of effective measures to reduce drug consumption.

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 This key issues guide was originally written by Luke Samson of Sharan, India.



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