§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people employed by his Department have worked on harm reduction programmes(a) for and (b) in the Russian Federation. [179936]
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§ Hilary BennDFID currently employs nine staff which are involved in our work on HIV/AIDS, including managing harm reduction activities, in Russia. Eight are based in the DFID—Russia office in Moscow, one in London. Five are administrators, four are advisers. Also, over the last five years DFID has employed three Consultancy Companies involving 16 individual experts on four harm reduction projects.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact on harm reduction programmes supported by his Department in the Russian Federation of the(a) 1995 Federal Law on the Prevention of Dissemination in the Russian Federation of Disease Caused by Human Immunodeficiency Virus and (b) the 1998 Federal Law on Narcotic Means and Psychotropic Substances. [179937]
Mr. Gareth ThomasDFID funded a project entitled "Building Police Support for Harm Reduction" from August 2001 to December 2003. The project was contracted to International Family Health, and its purpose was to involve the Russian police as an integral part of harm reduction strategies. One output of this work was a report by Professor William E. Butler, Professor of Comparative Law, University of London, which sought to examine and clarify a range of issues on harm reduction in Russia from a legal and judicial perspective.
This report (published by International Family Health: ISBN 0–9545761–0–1) included an assessment of the impact of these and other Russian federal laws on harm reduction programmes in Russia and concluded that the provision of harm reduction services in Russia, in particular services for injecting drug users, is consistent with Russian law. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC), Open Health Institute (OHI), AIDS Foundation East West (AFEW) and others, are continuing to work on the legal issues affecting harm reduction.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what account has been taken by(a) his Department and (b) the European Union of Article 15 (4) of the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation in support for harm reduction programmes in the federation. [179938]
Mr. Gareth ThomasDFID has taken account of the prevailing view among Russian and international jurists that, on the whole, the Russian Federation has properly fulfilled its international legal duties under relevant international law relevant to harm reduction, including the United Nations Narcotics Conventions.
The EU is supporting HIV/AIDS projects in Russia, including information, education and communication campaigns and training for health personnel, but is not supporting the pro vision of targeted harm reduction services for vulnerable groups.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the HIV/Aids projects in the Russian Federation that received financial support from his Department in 2003–04. [179939]
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Mr. Gareth ThomasThe following HIV/AIDS projects in the Russian Federation, including projects not principally related to HIV/AIDS but which contained an HIV/AIDS component, received financial support from DFID in 2003–04:
Project title 2003–04 spend (£) Open Health Institute Harm Reduction Bridging Project 1,589,483 Knowledge for Action for HIV/AIDS in the Russian Federation 645,793 United Nations Fund for International Partnerships: Comprehensive Partnership Strategies for HIV/STI Prevention among Young People in the Russian Federation 457,046 Development of a Public Health-Based Approach to the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Samara 75,582
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Project title Purpose Duration DFID funding (£) Open Health Institute Harm Reduction Bridging Project* To reduce the transmission of HIV among injecting drug users and commercial sex workers in OHI-supported harm reduction sites in the Russian Federation July 2001-August 2004 3,500,000 Knowledge for Action for HIV/AIDS in the Russian Federation To create the knowledge base on HIV in the Russian Federation necessary to guide effective policy and intervention September 2002–August 2005 1,500,000 United Nations Fund for International Partnerships: Comprehensive Partnership Strategies for HIV/STI Prevention among Young People in the Russian Federation* To reduce the incidence of HIV/STIs among young people, especially girls and young women, by ensuring the availability of and access to information, education, health services, counselling for HIV, testing and commodities required for young people to develop and exercise effective life skills June 2002–November 2004 1,125,000 Development of a Public Health-based Approach to the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Samara* To develop sustainable, high quality STI services in Samara and disseminate successful approaches at federal level September 1998–March 2004 981,146 Prevention of HIV/AIDS among Injecting Drug Users in Sverdlovsk Oblast* To improve and develop preventative public education programmes on HIV/AIDS, with a special focus on injecting drug use April 1998–April 2003 775,334 UNAIDS Regional Harm Reduction Task Force: Capacity Expansion To strengthen the capacity of the UNAIDS Regional Task Force on HIV prevention among injecting drug users in Eastern Europe September 2000–November 2002 450,000 Comprehensive Targeted HIV Prevention and Control Demonstration Project (Design Phase) Design phase. Planned purpose was to establish integrated programmes of targeted HIV prevention activities in two localities at a scale sufficient to control the epidemic and in order to convince policymakers that such investment is worthwhile. October 2002–April 2003 337,787 Building Police Support for Harm Reduction To involve the police as an integral part of harm reduction August 2001–March 2004 489,891 Assistance to the World Bank for the Russia TB/AIDS Control Project Technical assistance for the design of a $150 million World Bank loan on tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS control. May 2000–April 2002 200,000 Harm Reduction Project To reduce transmission of HIV among injecting drug users in Sverdlovsk by developing a co-ordinated harm reduction programme December 1999–March 2001 35,949 11th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug-Related Harm: Project Planning Activities To assist in developing a large-scale project on reducing drug related harm in Russia April 2000–April 2001 60,081 Harm Reduction Conference, New Delhi To provide funding for 20 Russian delegates to attend the Harm Reduction Conference in New Delhi April 2001–October 2001 41,405
Project title 2003–04 spend (£) Comprehensive Targeted HIV Prevention and Control Demonstration Project (Design Phase) 42,071 Building Police Support for Harm Reduction 200,519 World Health Organisation: Strengthened Cooperation between Tuberculosis and HIV Control Services in the Russian Federation 100,000 Total 3,110,494
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the harm reduction projects in the Russian Federation that received financial support from his Department in each of the last seven years. [179940]
Mr. Gareth ThomasDFID has provided financial support for the following projects related to harm reduction in the past seven years. The projects marked with an asterisk have supported the provision of harm reduction services to high risk groups: