Pathways to Harm Reduction Drug Policy in Hong Kong and East & Southeast Asia: Principles, Process and Practices

Over the past 25 years, Hong Kong has witnessed a dramatic change in illicit drug use, from the predominant use of heroin to a broader range of psychoactive drugs. These shifts are similar to elsewhere in the world, including East and Southeast Asia. At the same time, policies and rehabilitation around drug use locally and regionally are based on the abstinence principle – that one must cease all use. Although this may be an end goal, drug policy must also respond to the risks and needs of people who use drugs. This project seeks to develop and implement research informed policies and program strategies that are based on the principles of harm reduction and wellbeing.

This three-year project builds on the team’s impact-oriented research and includes two components. Component one focuses on Hong Kong and seeks to develop and implement research informed policy and program strategies for frontline workers. The team will first develop a baseline of drug user trends and associated problems based on interviews with users and frontline workers. This information will form the basis for developing and delivering a harm reduction training program for frontline workers. The team will revisit users and frontline workers to assess whether and how practices have changed having had the training and knowledge gained about harm reduction, and to revise the training package for others working in the sector.

Component two is regional in focus and builds on our harm reduction and drug policy trainings over the past seven years. From these trainings, we have established a network of policymakers and practitioners in East and Southeast Asia who have the knowledge and experience of working on drug policy issues and are well situated in working collectively. This component’s aim is to develop a regional research impact hub on drug policy. We will first host professional training events, drawing on our established networks to reach out to others in the region. These events will focus on key priority issues in regional drug policy and assess what is known (or not known) and begin capacity building to promote change. These events will then form the basis for a research innovation hub with  members collaborating to develop a research agenda, collect data from their respective countries, and collectively establish an overall regional profile and suitable action plans.