2. TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF

Since the advent of HIV/AIDS, the term 'harm reduction' has become widely used. However, it is frequently used in ways it was never intended and there is still much confusion about what it means - and also about what is doesn't mean.

Harm reduction is an approach to drug use that has the reduction of harm as its primary goal, rather than the reduction of drug use. Obviously one way of reducing drug related harm is not to use at all. However, this is different to harm reduction, which attempts to reduce the risk of harm among people who cannot, or do not want to stop using drugs for whatever reason at the present time. Harm reduction measures frequently involve encouraging people to adopt safer injecting practices and to use drugs in different ways, e.g. to wash their hands before injecting, to use sterile injecting equipment, and to not share needles and syringes or other injecting paraphernalia.

The emphasis of harm reduction, as a policy, strategy or program, is on providing drug users with the education and resources to use more safely. Needle and Syringe Programs (NSPs) are a perfect example of harm reduction in practice: they provide users with clean needles/syringes and other injecting equipment as well as access to information so that they are able to make informed choices and minimise the risk of blood borne virus transmission and other drug related harms.

Harm reduction accepts that drug use is an inevitable part of society, but that many of the harms associated with drug use are preventable and can be minimised. In addition to minimising harms to individual drug users, harm reduction is also concerned with minimising potential harms to the whole of society as a result of drug use. For example, providing syringe disposal facilities in public places is one way of minimising the potential risk of needle stick injuries in the community.