[The realization of the concept of Harm Reduction in Russia]

By the present moment cases of HIV infection among injecting narcotic users (INU) have been registered in more than 100 countries. To prevent HIV infection, the program "Harm Reduction" has been developed in Britain; the program states that the prevention of HIV infection must be considered more important than the prevention of the use of narcotic drugs, as this infection is a growing danger for both drug users and public health in general. Breaking drug dependence must not be the only aim of services working with drug addicts, because this will exclude persons decisively disposed to the mode of life including the prolonged use of drugs from the sphere of their activity. Active INU having no contacts with organizations which must give them treatment and assistance find themselves in dangerous situations more often than INU maintaining contacts with such organizations. Penetration into such hidden group and its education must be the primary task. Propaganda plays a decisive role in this process, as the only way to penetrate into such group is to develop work in its territory, so that drug addicts, supplied with the necessary means could change their behavior in the desired direction. In the Russian Federation work on the project "Harm Reduction" has been carried out in 50 regions. This work has contributed to conducting teaching seminars, working out teaching programs, as well as to augmenting the interest among specialists of different professions to the problem of decreasing the spread of HIV infection. The importance of information distributed by the narcological service and the probability that very responsible persons take correct decisions on the basis of their understanding the situation have increased. The rating of public organization has risen.