Enabling Innovation In Harm Reduction Through Science-Led Regulation And Policymaking
Enabling Innovation In Harm Reduction Through Science-Led Regulation And Policymaking
The fourth Harm Reduction Exchange forum was held in Nairobi, Kenya, with the theme “Enabling Innovation in Harm Reduction through Science-Led Regulation and Policymaking.”
Defining harm reduction, was the start of business. Dr. Vivian Manyeki, a Kenyan public health specialist noted that “Harm reduction recognizes the realities of human behavior and aims to minimize harm rather than enforce abstinence. This is about meeting people where they are providing them with the tools and support to make healthier choices”
Enabling Innovation In Harm Reduction Through Science-Led Regulation And Policymaking
This is no news that tobacco is extremely harmful to health as there are 8 million people who lose their lives due to tobacco every year including an estimated 1.3 million non-smokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke.
The Harm Reduction Exchange Forum sought strategies on how to ease harm from tobacco, opioids, and alcohol across Africa.
“The governments must strengthen tobacco control laws while integrating harm reduction strategies. This includes directing taxes collected from tobacco products toward public health programs and increasing access to harm reduction tools.” Noted Dr. Manyeki
The fourth Harm Reduction Exchange forum was held in Nairobi, Kenya, with the theme “Enabling Innovation in Harm Reduction through Science-Led Regulation and Policymaking.”
This was echoed by Prof. Issa Eine the chairman of the Senegalese Alliance Against NCD Collaboration Alliance who advocated for collaboration in research, and capacity building where communities and civil society can be involved, leveraging on data, engaging health experts and engaging diplomatic advocacy.
The fundamental premise of tobacco harm reduction is based on providing smokers with less harmful alternatives to combustible cigarettes, including e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products (HTPs), and oral nicotine products.
The global approach to tobacco harm reduction represents a complex intersection of public health policy, economic interests, and regulatory frameworks.
The fourth Harm Reduction Exchange forum was held in Nairobi, Kenya, with the theme “Enabling Innovation in Harm Reduction through Science-Led Regulation and Policymaking.”
Despite evidence of effectiveness in countries like Egypt and Sweden, harm reduction measures remain controversial and highly contested in many countries in Africa. It faces barriers including from government, faith-based settings, and social and cultural barriers.
“Prejudices and stigma associated with drug use both from the public and practitioners hinders the provision of adequate care, creates problems for both the patients and harm reduction services” Says Dr. Martin Agwogie the Executive Director of Global Initiative on Substance Abuse (GISA)
African Public Health Experts Call For Adoption Of Harm Reduction Approaches In Tobacco Regulation And Policy Development
The forum highlighted the critical role of harm reduction and laid the foundation for Africa to redefine its approach to health regulation with participants pointing out the practices that can promote harm reduction.
For effective and sustainable harm reduction practices, there is the need to focus not only on individual behavior but also on the physical and social space in which a person’s substance use occurs, development of a national drug policy that accommodates harm reduction as a component of drug use intervention is strategic.
The speakers also emphasized the media’s responsibility to educate the public about harm-reduction tools and foster informed discussions as there is a need to improve knowledge about substance use disorders and change the public perception about people who use drugs and harm reduction.
The Harm Reduction Exchange Forum stakeholders promised to implement harm reduction practices, strengthen control policies, and enforce stringent trading laws to curb the proliferation of black-market products.
