Publications

This is the seventh edition of the Global State of Harm Reduction, compiled in a year when public health was leading the news agenda around the world. COVID-19 and the related measures introduced worldwide continue to disrupt life as we know it. This year the report added a new chapter dedicated to the impact of COVID-19 on harm reduction service delivery and people who use drugs. Also provided dedicated chapters on hepatitis C and tuberculosis (TB) to broaden the focus, in pursuit of a global health perspective.

For the last eight years, efforts by Support. Don’t Punish campaigners have materialised with great dedication around a Global Day of Action, observed annually on 26 June. This day is also the the United Nations’ International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Historically, this date has been used by governments to showcase drug control “achievements” in coercive terms that have no positive impact on communities’ well-being. From grandstanding declarations of war, to burning displays of seized drugs, and even public trials where people criminalised for drug offences are sent off for execution, the gruesome theatrics of the “war on drugs” glorify violence and punishment over human dignity and rights.

The purpose of this study is to provide technical assistance for the development of investment scenario analysis that is tailored to the Cambodia AIDS response. Specifically, this investment scenario analysis was used as an integral component to support Cambodia in the preparation of funding application to the Global Fund for the implementation period from 2021 to 2023.

A new UNICEF publication, Research on Violence against Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Guidance to inform ethical data collection and evidence generation, addresses key questions on generating VAC evidence that may arise during the pandemic to guide those considering conducting research and data collection on VAC during COVID-19.

The Global Strategy for Tuberculosis Research and Innovation will support the efforts of governments and other stakeholders to accelerate TB research and innovation, and improve equitable access to the benefits of research.

A participatory research tool was developed collaboratively by Dristi Nepal (hereafter ‘Dristi’), and ITPC to capture and assess the impact of Covid-19. The qualitative survey tool used images and emoticons to encourage participants, regardless of literacy, to relate their experiences of healthcare services as people living with HIV, and to rank their government’s actions on health provisions and human rights both prior to and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Every component of the tool’s development and implementation was collaborative, from the formulation of indicators, to its inclusive design and analysis of findings.

"Sankalak: Status of National AIDS Response" is the evidence-driven flagship report of NACP detailing the national AIDS response towards 2020 fast-track targets and 2030 end of the epidemic goal. 'Sankalak' analyses and reports the robust programmatic and surveillance data generated under NACP for the years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. This second edition of 'Sankalak' tells a tale of significant progress together with persisting challenges under the programme.

The Global Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) Programme was developed by UNICEF as an international multi-purpose household survey programme to support countries in collecting internationally comparable data on a wide range of indicators on the situation of children and women. The National Statistical Office of Thailand (NSO) conducted its first MICS, which was part of MICS3 programme, in 2005-06. The current MICS is the fourth round under MICS6 programme. The survey provides one of the most important sources of alternative information to help monitor the progress of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Integrating stakeholder and community engagement in quality of care initiatives for maternal, newborn and child health was developed to guide policy makers and programme implementers on how stakeholder and community engagement can be incorporated into quality improvement initiatives for maternal, newborn and child health. It specifically provides operational guidance through concrete steps and actions on how quality improvement teams at national, district and facility level, can ensure collaborative engagement with relevant stakeholders and communities during in all steps quality improvement implementation.  

The importance of community involvement in the design and development of health policies and programming has been formalised as a key principle within health policy agendas since the 1978 Alma Ata Declaration. A human rights and community empowerment approach has also been promoted as a key enabler for a successful response to the HIV epidemic. Such principles are also the foundation for harm reduction, where the involvement of people who use drugs is described as central to ensuring accessible, effective and responsive harm reduction services.