 | | Quality Harm Reduction in Iran | Iran was one of the first countries in the MENA region to adopt a harm reduction approach. However, the drug scene in Iran has changed over the past 20 years. More people are using stimulant drugs, and due to economic circumstances, more people who use drugs have become homeless.
Mainline sets out to see whether the current programme still fits the needs of Tehran's people who use drugs. | |
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 | | Loving new alliances | Mainline is a partner in the new Love Alliance programme. The Love Alliance brings together organisations led by those communities which are the most affected by HIV and AIDS.
From all over Africa, experts (GALZ, SANPUD, Sisonke), grant providers (UHAI EASHRI, AFE, ISDAO) and the global network of people living with HIV (GNP +) have joined forces. Aidsfonds has Dutch administrative leadership.
The programme has partners in ten countries: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe and runs until the end of 2025. | |
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 | | Mindful Muscles | | Harm reduction approaches are rarely applied in a recreational sports setting. And why would we - sport equals health, right? Not always. Research shows that the use of performance and image-enhancing drugs (PIEDs) is quite common in various recreational sport scenes. And for those people who use frequently and in high doses, harm reduction can make a big difference. Mainline is a partner in a new programme ‘Mindful Muscles’ which is funded by the European Commission. | |
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 | | Stimulant drugs ‘Field Lab’ in Hanoi, Vietnam | Open Society Foundations enabled Mainline and Supporting Community Development Initiatives (SCDI) to respond to the increased use of meth-amphetamine in Vietnam and across the Southeast Asian region. Our collective efforts led to the establishment of the Hanoi Field Lab for stimulant drugs (‘the Stimulant Field Lab’): a regional expertise and learning centre for stimulant harm reduction. This project has now been evaluated by the Centre for Training and Research on Substance Use and HIV of the Hanoi Medical University.
A first dissemination meeting for community organisations in the ASEAN region takes place in early June. Details on the date and registration will be published soon!
Enthusiastically, in our next newsletter, we hope to announce more exciting follow-ups to this project. | |
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 | | Linking-up with Mainline LinkedIn | | Mainline has embraced LinkedIn. We’ve had a pretty sleepy Mainline page for a few years, but our account has recently become very lively. You can now follow all of Mainline’s latest updates, adventures, trainings, opinions, concerns, worries and wins – both Dutch and Global. | |
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 | | Clean needles and quality of life for people who use drugs in Tanzania | A new study, implemented in Tanzania, confirms that needle and syringe programmes have an impact beyond better health. Service users of the Dar es Salaam harm reduction programme report a range of perceived benefits that improve overall wellbeing and quality of life.
A factsheet summarises the key objectives and findings of the study. The results were disseminated among key government representatives and other stakeholders during a workshop in March. The goal? To create traction with government and to generate broad support for harm reduction. The complete research report is available on our website.
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