Harm reduction and human rights in the context of the global fund’s new funding model

On September 10, 2014, the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) and the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD) presented a webinar on strategies for addressing harm reduction and human rights in the context of the Global Fund’s New Funding Model (NFM).

The Global Fund has historically been the largest multilateral donor to harm reduction programming and has committed to supporting programming for people who inject drugs. However, crucial funding decisions taken at the most recent Global Fund Board meeting have meant that most of the countries with the largest epidemics amongst people who inject drugs are no longer eligible for funding, being classified as middle income countries. In addition, the governments of most of these countries have shown a clear reluctance to pay for harm reduction programmes themselves. This poses serious risks for the global response to HIV amongst people who inject drugs. Given that one in three new infections outside of Sub-Saharan Africa take place within this community, this also jeopardises an effective response to the epidemic in general.

Listen the webinar here.

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