"Harm reduction, while not always in these exact words, is mentioned in national government policies in 25 of the 29 countries in the region. Needle and syringe programmes (NSPs) are available in 27 out of 29 countries (excluding Turkmenistan and Bulgaria), and opioid agonist therapy (OAT) in 26 countries (except Russia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan). However, the coverage of services in most of the countries doesn’t reach the minimum 20% recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO)[4] and the quality of services remains low and not client-oriented. Consequently, nearly half of new HIV infections in 2019 in the post-Soviet part of the region were attributed to injecting drug use.[63]
"Twenty-one countries provide OAT in prisons, and only five have needle and syringe programmes (NSPs).
"Naloxone and overdose prevention education is explicitly stated as part of the harm reduction programme for people who use drugs in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajiskistan and Uzbekistan.[9] Take-home naloxone is available at harm reduction sites in Estonia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and several cities in Russia, with support from international donors."
Harm Reduction International (2020). Global State of Harm Reduction 2020. London: Harm Reduction International.
