¿Está Filipinas preparada para la reducción de daños?

La brutal "guerra contra las drogas" de Filipinas no ha disuadido a los defensores de la reducción de daños de aplicar medidas que salvan vidas, como programas de agujas y jeringuillas y el tratamiento con metadona. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

Local experts and organizations are fighting an uphill battle against societal norms and the law in order to change the country’s paradigms on drug use and policy.

In 2016, with the goal of eradicating the illegal drug trade in the country, then-President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to kill the estimated 3 million people who used drugs in the Philippines. That promise led to an infamous drug war that reportedly killed anywhere from 6,000 to 30,000 people—many of whom were urban poor, including dozens of children—breaking families and pushing many even deeper into poverty.

Before that war even began, a senator appealed to the Philippine government to prioritize public health and human rights instead of criminalization and punishment in its anti-drug campaign.

“The government must promise hope, not death, to drug respondents. It must guarantee health care assistance, not violence. This is the more effective, affordable, and compassionate anti-drug policy,” said Senator Risa Hontiveros.