10.8 Chapter Summary
Key Summary Points
- HR is an evidenced-based, client centered, pragmatic public health orientation to substance use and substance-use services and control policies.
- HR services are essential in preventing many of the harms linked with substance use. They serve to lessen the likelihood of long-term health complications of substance use, reduce the likelihood of toxic drug poisoning events and deaths, and improve overall health and well-being.
- HR works to address the stigma associated with substance use and SUDs. Through reducing stigma and providing needed support and resources, HR initiatives help PWUS and people experiencing SUDs access needed health and social services.
- Involving people with lived and living experience is essential in the design, implementation and evaluation of HR polices and programs.
Additional Resources
Additional Viewings
CBC. (2008). Staying Alive [Video]. The Fifth Estate. https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1367469592
Additional Readings
Interagency Coalition on AIDS. (March 19, 2019). Policy brief: Indigenous harm reduction – Reducing the harms of colonialism. http://www.icad-cisd.com/pdf/Publications/Indigenous-Harm-Reduction-Policy-Brief.pdf
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). (2019). Health, rights & drugs: Harm reduction, decriminalization and zero discrimination for people who use drugs. https://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/JC2954_UNAIDS_drugs_report_2019_en.pdf
Websites
Harm Reduction International. (n.d.). https://www.hri.global/
National Harm Reduction Coalition. (n.d.). https://harmreduction.org/
Ontario Harm Reduction Network. (n.d.). https://ohrn.org/
