Our CARE Reaches Prisons

One of the programmes that EHRN has been currently contributing to carries the title ‘CARE’. Even though this name could embrace most if not all our activities, in this particular programme we CARE about the drug users in prisons, as they are at risk of:

•  initiating drug use

• risk behaviour for infections

•  fatal overdoses

• not accessing harm reduction and treatment measures while in prison or in the immediate period after release

What harm reduction services are available at prisons at present? What is the availability of naloxone of overdose prevention? What are the opportunities for introduction of overdose prevention? These and many others of the type, are the questions which EHRN and its consultants are trying to answer by collecting the information on the existing overdose prevention services  for released prisoners in Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary and Romania.

The analysis of the current situation and a collection of good examples of overdose prevention services set by Scotland, Italy, Spain and Denmark is to be used for the development of a training module on overdose prevention upon release from prisons. By receiving the training, the staff in the criminal justice system, healthcare professionals and drug user community will raise their capacity to address the mentioned issues more effectively.

Taking part in the project, we CARE about harm reduction and overdose prevention in custodial settings and reintegration upon release and work to fight the existing ignorance.

image: BNS