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| Rep. Serrano Introduces Bill to Lift Syringe Exchange Ban
July 30th, 2008
NATIONWIDE – Rep. José E. Serrano (NY) and 25 co-sponsors, including Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), introduced the Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention (CAHP) Act of 2008 today in Congress, which would remove all restrictions on the use of federal funds for syringe exchange programs to reduce the transmission of bloodborne pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis C. Over 100 HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and public policy groups have thrown their full support to the bill, which follows a year of advocacy efforts to lift the funding ban. |
| New Government Report Analyzes Overdose Outbreak
July 24th, 2008
NATIONWIDE – The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a new report today on the outbreak of over 1000 deaths between April 2005 and March 2007 in 5 states.These overdose deaths were caused by contamination of heroin with non-pharmaceutical fentanyl, a synthetic opiate 30-50 times more potent than heroin.The report concludes the fatal outbreak demonstrated the need for improved surveillance and for more public health programs to help drug users learn strategies for preventing and responding to overdoses.
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| Congress needs to follow frontrunners' lead to fight HIV, rescind syringe exchange ban
November 27th, 2007
(New York) The Harm Reduction Coalition today applauded Sen. Clinton’s plan to include syringe exchange programs as part of a national AIDS strategy and called for Congress to rescind the current ban. Clinton’s announcement yesterday matches Sen. Obama, Sen. Edwards, Governor Richardson and Rep. Kucinich’s previous support for syringe exchange programs as a tool to fight HIV infections. |
| Victory for local AIDS prevention and drug treatment programs
November 6th, 2007
San Francisco-In a victory for HIV/AIDS prevention and drug treatment programs, Congress today removed an amendment to ban federal funds for cities that establish a medically supervised drug injection facility from the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education appropriations bill. |
| Oct 18 Symposium: Exploring Safer Injection Facilities in San Francisco
What: This full day symposium will examine needs, feasibility, support, and various options for a legal Safe Injection Facility for homeless and marginally housed injection drug users, and for the community impacted by them. Speakers include members of law enforcement, public health officials, service providers, legal experts, injection drug users, community groups, leaders in the faith community, and evaluators from InSite, a safe injection facility in Vancouver, Canada. |
| CA Overdose Bill Moves Forward
May 8th, 2007
SACRAMENTO – California Senate Bill (SB) 767, the Overdose Treatment Liability Act, co-sponsored by the Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC), a national health and human rights advocacy group working to reduce drug-related harm, and the County of Los Angeles passed the bipartisan California Senate Judiciary Committee today in a 5-to-0 vote. |
| Harm Reduction Experts Urge Feds To Stem Overdose Epidemic
November 28th, 2006
WASHINGTON D.C. - Medical experts, drug user health advocates, and urban public health departments today issued an urgent call to the federal government to expand efforts to counteract a deadly wave of overdose deaths that have plagued injection drug users and their communities this year. The Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC), a national health and human rights advocacy group working to reduce drug-related harm, is leading the effort. |
| New Congress Sets Stage for Stemming African American AIDS Epidemic
November 8th, 2006
Oakland, CA - Over 1500 people gather today for a national conference organized by the
Harm Reduction Coalition to discuss syringe exchange and comprehensive public health
strategies to reduce harms associated with drug use in the heart of California's growing
HIV/AIDS epidemic amongst African Americans. |
| Harm Reduction Groups Issue
Urgent Plea on Drug Policy and HIV
August 15th, 2006
Toronto, Canada – August 15, 2006 – Representatives of international and regional harm reduction networks and other health organizations met in Toronto today and released a declaration urging immediate action to harmonize policies to halt the spread of HIV through drug use. The Declaration of Unity was signed by delegates from at least 19 organizations based in North America, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and the Caribbean at the International AIDS 2006 conference this week. (To view it, visit http://www.harmreduction.org/news/DoUFINAL.pdf) |
| Public Health Response to Overdose Deaths Needed
May 10th, 2006
NATIONWIDE – A wave of overdoses and deaths from heroin mixed with a powerful pain medication, fentanyl, has prompted advocates to urge health officials to act swiftly. The Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC), a national organization dedicated to reducing drug-related harm to individuals and communities, calls upon state and local health departments nationwide to widely adopt effective prevention strategies to reduce overdose deaths, including providing all heroin users with Narcan, a medication that reverses opiate overdoses.
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