ScholarForum: Harm Reduction and Working to Slow the HIV Epidemic

The cover story for this issue of ScholarForum is drug use, HIV/AIDS, and harm reduction in Scholarship Programs' countries. The volume and quality of articles submitted on the topic reflects the gravity and importance of the subject for our grantees and alumni.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has affected all levels of society, from the suffering of individuals and households, to the devastating impact on the social and economic growth of developing nations. The Joint United Nations Program on AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates that 20 million people have died of AIDS globally, and 36 million people are presently infected with HIV. Within this crisis, the countries of the Scholarship Programs are no exception and face an alarming increase in HIV infection rates, concentrated most heavily among injection drug users.

Responses to the growing incidence of injection drug use have been varied, usually inadequate, and frequently punitive in nature. The philosophy of harm reduction is a departure from the social stigmatization of drug users and is instead aimed at reducing the individual and social harms associated with drug use, especially the risk of HIV infection, through an approach that is both humanistic and practical. Harm reduction encompasses services such as needle and syringe exchange, methadone treatment, health education, and social service supports.

In this issue our regional focus section is devoted to Burma, a country that has struggled through decades of strife and human rights violations. The fight for democracy and open society in Burma is ongoing and acute, reflected dramatically in the compelling submissions we received from Burmese scholars affiliated with Scholarship Programs.