By Gisa Hartmann

 

In response to the rise of drug dependence, China has begun to embrace harm reduction, scaling up policies such as methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) and needle exchange programs (NEP) in a growing number of areas. This shift in policy is expressed in the new Anti-Drug Law, which categorizes drug addiction as a medical condition rather than a criminal issue or moral failing. But how far along is the development of MMT and NEP in China, and what does the state plan for the future? How do current policies play out for drug users on the ground? This two-part blog will explore these and related issues.

With some translation assistance from Asia Catalyst, Mr. Ai Khamngen from Yunnan's Sangha Metta Project (佛光之家 foguangzhijia）won a full scholarship from the International AIDS Society to attend the International AIDS Conference in Vienna. Sangha Metta, located in Yunnan's Sipsongpanna Tai Autonomous Prefecture, brings together Tai minority Buddhist monks, people living with HIV/AIDS, and community leaders to do AIDS prevention, sex education, and community support work. Theirs is one of the few ethnic-minority-led AIDS programs in China, and is modeled on similar projects in Thailand. Here is his slide presentation.

Please follow this link for his presentation

HIVAIDS care with Buddhism_Yan Hanen.pdf

by Hayley Curry

The rule of law can be a powerful and effective tool for building a society that is free of injustice and filled with opportunities for all, but the operational environment that accompanies human rights advocacy can limit its effectiveness. This summer, while working as a legal intern at an NGO in Kathmandu, Nepal, I experienced these challenges firsthand.

By Celina Su

In 2000, I began to work with a small, community-based project called the Burmese Refugee Project (BRP) in northwest Thailand. Using a participatory model of community development, the BRP helps over 100 Burmese Shan refugees in northwest Thailand access education, health, and legal services. Through this work, I learned that refugees are the victims of what public health researchers call structural violence--physical and mental harm that results from unjust social, economic, and political structures. Many of the prescriptions that would treat these ailments--such as a shared wheelbarrow so that the refugees do not have to carry 50-kilo bags of rice on their shoulders, and for the man above, sunglasses to treat pterygium (a scar on the eyes caused by sun damage)--fall outside typical medical practice.