The recent UNAIDS report of the Commission on AIDS in Asia "Redefining AIDS in Asia: Crafting an Effective Response" emphasises the need to promote evidence-informed interventions. It recognizes that although HIV epidemics vary from country to country across Asia, the role of new infections is paramount in the spread of HIV.   Key behaviours at the centre of Asian epidemics tend to be the use of contaminated needles and syringes by people who inject drugs, unprotected paid sex, and unprotected sex between men.

Unsafe injecting is a very efficient route for transmission of blood borne virus and results in rapid increases in incidence.  The report highlights the significance of preventing spread of HIV through injecting drug use by adopting harm reduction approaches of proven effectiveness.  The report recommends the need for government and business leaders to adopt a more proactive role in the HIV response, and for involvement of civil society at all stages of policy, programme design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation.

The Burnet Institute is committed to evidence-based public health and has a long history of commitment to harm reduction in relation to injecting drug use. This encompasses minimising harm through reducing the likelihood that young people will start to inject, protecting those who inject, their families and communities from the spread of blood borne infections, and assisting those who want to stop injecting.  This includes a commitment to the general health and well-being of injecting drug users and to treatment, care and support for those that are infected with HIV, and their partners and children.

These harm reduction concepts need to be incorporated into general HIV prevention and care responses, and are relevant more broadly in our efforts to improve health and well-being in resource-poor settings.  In recognition of this we are currently integrating our harm reduction work with our international health programs and applied research in the Asia and Pacific regions.

The Burnet Institute will hold a one-day symposium, "Integrating harm reduction in HIV responses and international health," in July 2008, to provide an update after the Barcelona International Harm Reduction Conference, to discuss the need to integrate harm reduction in HIV prevention and care responses, and to explore the potential of the harm reduction approach in the broader development context. Further details will be announced soon. To register your interest please contact Andrea Eakins, andrea@burnet.edu.au


Brendan Crabb, Director
Robert Power, Head, Centre for Harm Reduction Mike Toole, Head, Centre for International Health