The Laos Country Program (CP) aims to reduce the spread of HIV associated with injecting drug use among men and women by strengthening the capacity and will of government, communities and civil society organisations to reduce the harms associated with injecting drug use.
The program is working to develop a broad range of demand-driven harm reduction services including:
- provision of IEC materials for drug users, their sexual partners and their families
- infrastructure and drop-in centres to deliver services
- peer outreach networks among different sub-groups of drug users including women and men who have sex with men
- tincture of opium for long term treatment for opium and heroin users
- referral mechanisms for drug users and their families to access primary and sexual health services
- and, harm reduction training institutionalised in the national police and health training curriculum.
The CP aims to foster effective high-level political support for harm reduction approaches within Laos ministries, local organisations and INGO partners to create a genuinely multisectoral approach and an enabling environment for harm reduction programs. The program will focus on strengthening capacity within the Government of Laos to ensure they have sufficient capacity to manage, monitor and regulate the National Strategic Plan, and that they have the multisectoral support to do so.
Objectives
The objectives of the Laos CP are to:
- improve coordination and collaboration in support of Laos harm reduction policies that prevent HIV among drug users.
- strengthen technical and management capacity to deliver effective services and support to drug users.
- increase awareness and understanding of drug use and HIV issues by policy makers to enhance responses.
The Laos CP builds on the achievements and investment of the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) regional project, which aimed to better respond to the epidemics related to injecting drug use by supporting the National Strategic Plan and filling gaps in Laos’ HIV response. By the end of the program it is envisaged that the Government of the Laos will have increased its funding of harm reduction services and additional donor support will have been mobilised for harm reduction activities to sustain the advances made under HAARP.
Implementing Partners
The Laos CP works with the Laos National Commission for Drug Control and Supervision (LCDC), and Ministry of Health (MoH) through the Centre for HIV/AIDS/STI (CHAS) and Department of Curative Medicine. UNODC is the lead agency and coordinates the partners’ response.
In line with HAARP's overall aims of harmonisation and alignment with national systems and adherence to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, the CP uses existing capacity within both LCDC and MoH (CHAS and the Department of Curative Medicine) for coordination and management of the program in Laos. In addition to the LCDC and CHAS the CP collaborates with the Ministry of Public Security (MOPS), UNODC and WHO.
The National Task Force on HIV and Drug Use provided governance to the CP. AusAID is participating in the Task Force, which meets every six months to review CP progress and approve work plans and activities. |