[Harm Reduction--its history and practice].

Abstract

In September 1997, Médecins sans Frontières-Holland (MSF-H) began a project to provide training and support for HIV/AIDS prevention among injecting drug users in the Russian Federation. The training course is based on the use of the Rapid Assessment Methodology developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) Programme on Substance Abuse (WHO, 1997) and the European Peer Support Manual (Trautmann and Barendregt, 1994) developed by the Trimbos Institute for the European Commission (both of which have been translated into Russian and, where necessary, adapted for use in Russia), as well as significant articles and books. The training programme also receives advice from the reports to UNAIDS Task Force on HIV Prevention among injecting drug users in Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States. MSF-H is a permanent member of this Task Force.