Launching the #Faith4HarmReduction PSA– Commemorating the Global Day of Action and the Support Don’t Punish Campaign in times of COVID-19

Anurag Paul 26 June, 2020

In India, it is estimated that there are about 8,50,000 people who inject drugs (PWID) as per the study “Magnitude of Substance Use in India” commissioned by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (2019). High numbers of PWID are estimated in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, and Nagaland. Opioid group of drugs are predominantly injected by PWID (heroin – 46% and pharmaceutical opioids – 46%). A substantial proportion of PWID report risky injecting practices and are at increased risk of HIV, viral hepatitis, and opioid overdose.

Access to prevention, treatment and care services for people affected by substance use disorders is grossly inadequate. Among “people dependent on illicit drugs” as per the report, one among 20 people have ever received inpatient treatment/ hospitalization for help with drug problems. The gap may be wider for other drugs (i.e., narcotics and psychotropic drugs) since they attract criminal sanctions and capacities to ensure health (includes pharmacological options for management of withdrawals and craving) and community sensitive is very limited in the country. Customized need-based services depending on the needs of beneficiaries and based on science is the need of the hour especially for the subgroups of women, young people, incarcerated populations and the LGBTTQ populations using drugs also.

Alliance India, has been responding to this situation along with its diverse partnership involving champions from the community of people who use drugs, policymakers, implementing partners, law enforcement agencies, state and national government departments, and the faith-based organizations. The response involves creating an enabling environment for ensuring harm reduction service provision; strengthening community systems to ensure they are self-reliant, promote the use of data and evidence for informing, policy, programme and also ensuring financing. Stakeholder management remains a cornerstone of this multipronged approach and working with diverse groups a mainstay, to ensure the broader goals of Universal Health Coverage and Human Rights is achieved by maintaining the momentum and focus also on HIV 90:90:90 targets. Faith-based organizations and champions are playing a very important role in these processes.

Alliance India jointly with the United Religions Initiative – a global grassroots interfaith network is working together to leverage the opportunities for strengthening responses including i.e., harm reduction and HIV prevention amongst PWID. A state of the art manual on harm reduction for the faith-based organizations is in its final stages of development under the Alliance India, URI, and interfaith partnership. This manual will be the first of its kind in the world on harm reduction and aims to improve understanding on harm reduction, health, and human rights concerns of people who use drugs and for removing stigma by the interfaith community.

There is already a body of evidence that explains the influence of faith-based organizations on masses and how their engagement can improve health and development outcomes. Organizations and faith leaders are a crucial resource for their community to provide education, increase awareness of drug use and issues of people using drugs, and to provide support in connecting congregation members to resources in the community for help, along with facilitating a positive attitude among masses towards people using drugs.

Taking this partnership forward; Alliance India in partnership with URI is commemorating this year’s World Drug Day i.e., June 26, 2020; by engaging faith-based leaders in the global #SupportDontPunish Campaign (SDP). The campaign’s yearly high point is the Global Day of Action i.e., June 26, which brings together stakeholders through public events, campaign, dialogue and/or rallies involving community representatives, government, development partners, lawmakers, media and faith-based organizations. Since this year has been particularly challenging for the marginalized communities given the added context of COVID 19 and demands that the SDP campaign address local issues that are affecting the community on priority; Alliance India and URI with support from UNAIDS – Regional Support Team (Asia) and the Global Fund partnered with the high-ranking faith-based leaders and organizations to develop and launch a “Public Service Announcement” (PSA) titled #Faith4HarmReduction in support of the harm reduction efforts, promote a humane and public health-based approach and with an appeal to the larger world to commit themselves to the community’s cause of “Support….Don’t Punish” !