Organised by Aidan Gilligan, Founder, CEO SciCom - Making Sense of Science; Member of the Governing Board of Euroscience.
High-level Topical Session on Global Drug Policy Developments European Science Open Forum (ESOF), Copenhagen
10h30 - 11h45, June 23, 2014 (Malting Hall)
Session Description
As the world debates the ‘war on drugs’ and what to do next, this session weighs-up the global scorecard which makes pretty dim reading for some, including Brussels.
Despite good intentions, the international drug enforcement regime has failed to reduce the use and harm caused by drugs. Most independent studies show problematic drug use increasing. This prohibitionist approach has been a mainstay of global diplomatic relations for decades, known as the ‘war on drugs’. It costs tens of billions of Euros to run. More difficult to estimate are the health and social costs associated with addiction, mass incarcerations and the emergence of a vast criminal controlled trade. The now fragile consensus around prohibition as a global framework for drug control is increasingly being questioned by reform-minded opinion leaders.
Arguments for and against are strong. The continuing disconnect between what science is telling us we should do and what is actually happening on the ground is harder for policy-makers to explain away. Western Europe began well by implementing health and evidence-based policies for over twenty five years. The EU is largely heterogeneous in terms of national policies and quality and coverage of interventions. This breaking news session brings together an acting government official (Georgia), a former Minister (Denmark), a current senior health official (Ukraine) and the current UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (United Nations). Their aim is to demonstrate how Europe is losing its voice and leadership at a critical juncture. It appears shy in engaging in the international debate made all the more urgent by the UN General Assembly and Secretary General’s decision to call a Special Session on drugs at the UN General Assembly in 2016 – the first in nearly two-decades. Will Brussels wake-up in time?
Session Format: Traditional lecture but highly interactive
Session Duration: 1h15 minutes
Target Audience: Scientists, General Public, Policy-Makers
Category: Healthy Society
SESSION PRESENTATION DOWNLOADS: CLICK HERE
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Organiser: Aidan Gilligan, Founder, CEO SciCom - Making Sense of Science, Euroscience Governing Board Member, ESOF Copenhagen 2014, International Media & Marketing Committee Vice-Chair. 121 Rue Franklin, 1000, Brussels, Belgium. Phone Number: +32(0)474042602; Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Moderator: Michel Kazatchkine, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia; Member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy; & Former Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis & Malaria. |
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Discussant: Archil Talakvadze, Deputy Minister of Corrections of Georgia |
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Discussant: Wilson M. Compton, M.D., M.P.E., Deputy-Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health Former Director, Division of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research. Phone Number: 301-443-6504; Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Presentation Title: The World of Drugs Policy Right Now: Winners & Losers
Talk Description:
Introductory remarks setting the scene on: (1) how the debate on drug policy reforms has been opened in the context of “activism” from opinion leaders and civil society, and in view of the Special Session of the UN General Assembly scheduled for early 2016; & (2) how harm reduction science may be the best illustration of the current disconnect between scientific evidence and policies, and between what is recommended in international standards and sadly, not implemented. This imbalance between ‘policy-biased evidence’ above ‘evidence-based policy’ is the root cause of tens of thousands of avoidable deaths and millions of avoidable infections
Presentation Title: Lives Saved in Scotland: What Early & Large Scale Implementation of Harm Reduction Measures Can Achieve
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10.45 - 10.55 Presenter: Professor Roy Robertson, Center for Population Health Science, University of Edinburgh, UK. |
Talk Description:
Scotland is perhaps the only global example to-date of a country that successfully tackled and erased a full-blown HIV/AIDS epidemic following the emergency adoption of harm minimisation measures. Nevertheless, this effort must be sustained with long term services for drug use treatment, including opiate substitute prescribing and injecting equipment availability.
Presentation Title: Harm Reduction Saves the Lives of Millions: Will Eastern Europe Take the Chance? Personal Experiences of EU Policy-Making
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10.55 - 11.05 Presenter: Andrey Klepikov, Executive Director of the HIV/AIDS Alliance Ukraine |
Talk Description:
Presentation Title: Why I Advocate for Drug Policy Reform
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11.05 - 11.10 Discussant: Archil Talakvadze, Deputy Minister of Corrections of Georgia |
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Presentation Title: How Can the US Better Listen to the Changing Global Consensus?
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11.15 - 11.20 Discussant: Wilson M. Compton, M.D., M.P.E., Deputy-Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health Former Director, Division of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research. Phone Number: 301-443-6504; Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Description:
Audience Q&A
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11.20 - 11.45 Moderator: Michel Kazatchkine, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia; Member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy; & Former Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis & Malaria. |
PRESENTATION DOWNLOADS
