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Tackling Concentrated Epidemics
PSI has been implementing Drug Risk Reduction programs
since 1998. Drug Risk Reduction covers the continuum from prevention
to interventions with injecting drug users (IDUs) to treatment. Programs
focus on user motivations and behaviors, and incorporate a spectrum
of strategies targeted to empowering potential, current, and former
drug users and their communities to reduce the negative consequences
of drug use, including HIV/STI transmission.
| Our Drug Risk Reduction strategies include: |
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Traditional and non-traditional behavior change campaigns
(BCC) |
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Drop-in centers |
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Counseling |
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Youth initiatives |
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NGO partnerships |
"Beyond sub-Saharan Africa, more recent epidemics
continue to grow - in China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Viet Nam,
several Central Asian Republics, the Baltic States, and North Africa.
Viet Nam ... has joined a growing list of countries in Asia, Eastern
Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, where injecting drug use
has primed HIV/AIDS epidemics."
— UNAIDS AIDS
epidemic update, December 2003
| Russia |
| PSI's first Drug Risk Reduction programs
were launched in Russia in 1998. In St. Petersburg, PSI runs two
programs that utilize counseling services and BCC to reduce HIV
transmission among youth, particularly those who use drugs.
The Elton John AIDS Foundation funds Lifeline hotline and case
management services. These programs target drug users who want
to quit, as well as drug users who want HIV testing, by providing
targeted informational and educational products.
Zhivi! (Live!), a multi-media campaign designed to inform
young people about drug use and its consequences including HIV
infection, consists of:
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A series of "surprise" concerts given by
famous Russian rock groups at school campuses and orphanages, broadcast
nationwide on MTV from October to December 2003. Mini films on drug
use are shown during the concerts, and PSI-trained peer educators
work the crowd to answer questions about drugs, and to reinforce
key messages by distributing brochures. |
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www.zhivi.ru
An interactive web site providing an anonymous forum for youth to
ask real questions and get real answers, share stories with peers,
and become more informed. |
| The Zhivi! campaign culminated with World
AIDS Day events, December 1, 2003. USAID is PSI's primary donor
in Russia. |
| The Balkans |
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Through RiskNet, funded by USAID, PSI supports NGOs
engaging in harm-reduction activities including referrals to treatment
centers, voluntary HIV counseling and testing, and distribution
of condoms, clean needles (independently funded), and educational
materials. This cross-border project covers Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Macedonia, Romania, Croatia, and Bulgaria.
RiskNet also created the Gatekeeper Project. "Gatekeepers"
are individuals who have influence over and access to IDUs and
sex workers. PSI works with RiskNet NGOs to identify, recruit,
and train gatekeepers to act as outreach workers who will educate
their communities about healthy options and encourage users to
seek NGO services. In addition, RiskNet has conducted both Peer
Ethnographic Research among men who have sex with men, and NGO
workshops to develop effective outreach activities that reduce
stigma and discrimination.
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| Central Asia |
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PSI/Central Asia is implementing a five-year USAID-funded
Drug Demand Reduction Program in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and the
Ferghana Valley Region of Kyrgyzstan. PSI's DDR program is part
of a larger DDRP partnership led by the Alliance for Open Society
International (AOSI) and including the partners Open Society Institutes
(OSI) of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Eurasia Foundation/Uzbekistan,
AIDS Foundation East/West (AFEW), Accord/Streetkids International
and Internews.
The objective of PSI's component of the DDRP is
to identify those subgroups of youth at highest risk of becoming
IDUs, and to equip them with knowledge and skills to make informed,
healthy decisions about drug use and sexual behavior. PSI is developing
a range of activities, including a regional network of youth centers
in high-risk communities, peer education outreach to at-risk youth,
educational materials, and a mass media campaign to facilitate
more open discussion of drug use and HIV/AIDS.
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| Thailand and China |
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PSI implements DFID's comprehensive regional program
based in Thailand, with subprojects in China, Laos, and Myanmar.
The program targets high-risk groups, including drug users, through
BCC, social marketing of health commodities, and counseling services.
The O-Zone in northern Thailand and the hu xiang hao ba
in China's Yunnan Province are drop-in centers providing current
and former drug users with counseling services and computer access.
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"Do we really have to use it? We trust each other."
The PSI RiskNet What's Your Excuse? campaign
in the Balkans refutes young people's top excuses
for engaging in high-risk sexual and injecting behaviors.
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