BMJ Opinion: Michel Kazatchkine: The time has come to implement harm reduction policies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
In this post, Michel Kazatchkine, special adviser to the Joint United Nations Program on AIDS (UNAIDS) in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, argues Eastern European and Central Asian countries should adopt opioid maintenance therapy and needle exchanges to curb HIV and hepatitis C outbreaks. Kazatchkine writes, “[W]e have evidence that opioid maintenance therapy and needle syringe programs are effective at prevention. It is the right time for governments in the region to review the evidence, review their policies, and reign in their HIV and hepatitis epidemics” (9/13).