Harm Reduction International (HRI), International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD) and International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) jointly delivered a statement during the 57th UNAIDS PCB meeting on Report of the NGO Representative. HRI read out the statement on-behalf.

Thank you for this opportunity to address the PCB. This intervention is being delivered on behalf of Harm Reduction International, the International Network of People who Use Drugs, and the International Drug Policy Consortium, and is based on a briefing delivered to PCB members which can be disseminated further.

The funding crisis this year has left harm reduction, especially in low- and middle-income countries, in a state of emergency. We have seen service closures, a loss of peer workers, and reduced capacities that have impacted our ability to sustain and build engagement with communities.

As a result, communities have been left suddenly without access to opioid agonist treatment, sterile needles and syringes, and naloxone. We have already seen increasing HIV infections in Fiji, and community level reports of increased overdose, including in South Africa.

What we have also seen – once again – is the significance of community resilience in the face of failing systems of care. As this report states, ‘the success of the HIV response is inseparable from the strength of community-led action’ and this is more evident now than ever.

Communities have responded to the unfolding crisis to protect one another and fill the gaps left by the funding void. They have responded to overdoses, acted as informal NSP distribution points, and shared lifesaving information amidst a rapidly changing context.

This is, however, unsustainable, and this work must be recognized moving forward.

Community members are not simply passive recipients of healthcare – but must be involved in all stages of service development and delivery.

Social contracting provides a mechanism for governments to provide domestic financing to sustain the HIV response, while ensuring we can meet the needs of communities we serve – minimising discrimination and maximising impact.

Global HIV commitments are clear, and explicitly recognise the valuable role of community-led organisations – country’s must be held accountable for compliance with these commitments and in particular the 30-80-60 and 10-10-10 goals.

In order to end AIDS as a public health threat we must take these commitments seriously. We must divest from punitive policies, including the unjust war on drugs, and we must invest in community-led and integrated harm reduction.