Health, human rights and harm reduction funding: Briefing for member states at the high level thematic segment on drugs

Harm reduction has repeatedly proven itself as a low cost, high impact approach which when scaled up can keep HIV prevalence at less than one per cent among people who inject drugs, saving lives and healthcare costs. Needle and syringe programmes and opioid substitution therapy have been adopted by over 80 governments spanning all regions, and harm reduction approaches are endorsed across the UN system and in the World Health Organisation’s HIV prevention, treatment and care guidelines.

Despite this broad endorsement, many countries still do not provide harm reduction and global funding for it amounts to just $160 million – only seven per cent of what is needed. By contrast, each year governments spend over $100 billion on drug control and enforcement. As leading international organisations working in HIV, harm reduction, drug policy and human rights we have launched the 10 by 20 campaign, calling on governments to redirect a tenth of the resources that they currently spend on drug control to harm reduction – 10 per cent by 2020.

The UN target to halve HIV among people who inject drugs by 2015 is at least 80 per cent off track. The May 7th High Level Thematic Debate offers a unique opportunity for New York based country missions and the broader UN family to highlight why this entirely achievable target has been so spectacularly missed.

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