"Why are we being bullied?" Open Letter to the President "Fund for the protection of health and social justice," Anya Sarang
I have a friend in Moscow. Her name is Anna. Anna is engaged to be working with a team of employees out on the streets of Moscow and is working with drug users - advice on HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, distributing syringes, condoms, antibacterial ointment, helps to go into hospital, to receive legal aid.
Recently, Anina organization came under the sight of power. Calls on the economic police, the agenda of the prosecutor's office and in the end, blocking the organization's website on the orders of the Federal Service for Drugs of Moscow. Official language: for "the promotion of drugs, information on marketing, purchasing, declination to the use of drugs."
The site, which is charged with "propaganda" was one of the best Russian-language Internet resources for treatment and prevention of HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis C. Here were collected scientific articles, comments of experts, the World Health Organization recommendations, including on issues of drug treatment. The problem is that instead of porkoterapii, coding, haloperidol and chlorpromazine injections for the treatment of drug addiction, WHO recommends the use of methadone and buprenorphine - drugs, form the basis of drug treatment affected opioydnoy drug in most countries. In addition to Russia. She has her own way, which is not that the use of replacement therapy, discuss taboo and strictly equated to promote drugs.
And now, Anna is waiting for a summons to the prosecutor. The site is blocked. Federal Drug Control Service continues to protect the health of the nation.
The following open letter to Annie Sarang, addressed to you, to us, to all who hear it. In order not to disappear tomorrow, quietly and without a trace.
Why are we being bullied?
"At the end of last year our public organization" Fund of assistance to protect the health and social justice "began to attract some attention to an unhealthy power. It all started with what I called a representative of the Main Department of Economic Security and Anti-Corruption Ministry of Internal Affairs, which reported that that our organization received a complaint. Immediately after the holidays received a summons to the prosecutor. And on Friday, February 3, it is notified by the Internet company, which reported that blocks our website at the request of the Federal Service for Drug Control in Moscow. We were struck this persecution. Why?
Our social organization deals with issues related to drugs and drug policy. Our mission - to promote a more humane drug policy based on protecting the health, human rights and dignity. The activities of our organization develops and moves by people who one way or another are faced with the problem of drug use - either by themselves or through their family, friends and relatives. We have been providing direct assistance to people suffering from drug addiction and drug users - every day, go out on the streets of Moscow in order to communicate with drug users, provide them with training on health, materials and information on HIV and viral hepatitis (syringes, condoms, brochures) , health counseling, rapid HIV tests, naloxone, to direct and assist in the device in the medical and social institutions of the city, the drug treatment and rehabilitation centers are scarce. If you need help to us and treat drug users from other cities in Russia - mainly to help with hospitalization in Moscow or in connection with the problems of violations of their rights.
Daily contact with people who use drugs, has shown us that the main difficulties lie in the widespread abuses against drug users and the inability of the health care system to solve their health problems. Recently retired from our organization has just started work social worker: she worked for a little over a month and dealt with the fact that the hospital was trying to arrange some of the participants of our project. Soon, she wrote us that he could not continue because the moral can not stand those humiliation and despair, which are our customers. A young medical officer was shocked at how our health care system "solves" the problem of drug addicts: it simply ignores them! For example, several people have failed to organize in the hospital. A person who needs a serious surgical operation, denied it because he was a drug addict. But breaking off, it was also impossible - in the drug treatment hospital, it did not take because of surgical complications. Thus, a person was in a vicious circle - with their pain, fever, a possible risk of loss of limb, death from sepsis. A social worker felt completely powerless to help him somehow. Such people we meet, if not every day, every week. People who can help unless a miracle. Russian medicine for them, does not offer solutions.
The same thing happens in our country with tuberculosis. Last year we conducted a study in 13 cities of Russia. This study showed that in some cities up to 100% of patients did not complete drug treatment of tuberculosis. Why is that? All the same: to drug treatment clinics people with TB do not take, and in the TB hospital, they can not be treated due to drug withdrawal - hardly rose to his feet, they are sent from hospitals to look for drugs to alleviate their condition.
Who is to blame in this situation? The average person will say: "This is a drug, they are guilty, and the health they do not care." Why are there common man: even the doctors themselves, who know that addiction is an illness - are inclined to blame the drug addicts. Probably, no other medical and mental release - it does not offer a health care system in these situations, no decision. Maybe that's why drug abuse in our country - the only disease that does not heal properly, and put behind him. Since we deal with the problem of drug addiction and drug policy, we know that the problem is not insoluble. In all other countries have this problem is a simple solution - methadone substitution therapy. Replacement therapy - this is when a person suffering from addiction, narcotic substance is given under medical supervision. The person receiving the drugs substitution therapy can receive any inpatient care associated with other diseases. A person should not spend time and energy searching for drugs and money for them - it does not break. This is the time people can spend on it to solve problems related to health - to treat HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis and other diseases. Many people get a job, get an education, stop stealing and pester their relatives and friends. Just live. Those who want to try to get rid of drug addiction are given the opportunity to detox and rehabilitation programs, which, unlike Russia, in Western countries are well developed and accessible.
Replacement therapy - not just a cheap and simple tool designed to help the vast number of people, but the key to the system by addicts on a huge range of health issues. This program is a basic drug treatment in all countries where there is a problem of opiate dependence. Methadone and buprenorphine are used in these programs included in the list of basic life-saving medicines of the World Health Organization. Replacement therapy exists in almost all countries of the former USSR, except for Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Russia. For some inexplicable reason, our country is opposed to the introduction of these programs, Power. Ministry of Health has repeatedly expressed its negative attitude towards replacement therapy. The opposition to these programs was made a separate item in the anti-drug strategy, approved by the president in the summer of 2010.
What is the reason this conflict, we do not know - there are only guesses.
First, historically Russia's drug and alcohol abuse has been built on the principles of repressive psychiatry. Patients were treated, or in labor camps, or neuroleptics and other drugs, for which the use of Russian psychiatrists kicked out all international associations. Nevertheless, many of these drugs are still included in the standards for drug treatment. For example, haloperidol is a drug has nothing to do - it is used in hospitals for substance abuse patients punishment.
Second, as recently announced the country's chief psychiatrist Eugene Brune, replacement therapy is a very cheap way of treatment for a prosperous Russia. Indeed, the patent on methadone for a long time was over and he stands as our chief psychiatrist says, mere pennies. Profitable to sell it and buy it only benefits those for whom the auctions and tenders shall have no other income other than benefit to society. Apparently, not a case of the Russian Ministry of Health.
Whatever it was, wondering about the causes of conflict can be a long time. For our efforts to reform Russia's drug policy, the introduction of substitution therapy has become one of the cornerstones. We spend most of advocacy activities to ensure that this therapy has been available in Russia. So, two years ago, we wrote a shadow report to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the violation by Russia of its obligations under that Covenant, part of the right to health for drug-dependent citizens. The Committee gave strong recommendations from Russia to establish a legislative opportunity for the introduction of substitution therapy programs recommended by the World Health Organization and is the world standard. The recommendations we have brought to the President, who redirected them to the Ministry of Health, where we got another runaround that in Russia, these programs will be implemented. This is not the only letter that we received this response. We wrote numerous letters to the government, the President himself in the Ministry of Health, the Federal Drug Control Service, with detailed explanations of why the introduction of substitution therapy is necessary both for prevention of HIV infection and reduce the criminalization of drug users, and to address issues of health and social status of drug users. The answer remained the same.
At the same time, the Ministry of Health distributes a completely inaccurate information about the state of the HIV epidemic in Russia ("We are all fine, but the fact that Russia - the only country in the world where the HIV epidemic continues to grow - the UN is lying!"), The situation with the treatment Tuberculosis ("We are all fine, but the fact that Russia is the third largest in the world in the prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis - the UN is lying!") and the status of the drug problem ("We are all fine, but the fact that Russia - a of the first countries in the world in the prevalence of opiate addiction, and that there is no systemic treatment of patients - the UN is lying! "). The degree of hypocrisy and shamelessness with which the Ministry of Health continues to misinform the public about the state of health is shocking.
Our web site, which we did with love and care for three years, it contained information about it: there were interviews and personal testimonies of people who faced with a lack of medical care in Russia, or those who have overcome addictions and other problems Health. There have been material and blogs of experts and drug addicts, research papers, and the WHO recommendations on the treatment of addiction. There have been recommendations and materials for the Protection of Human Rights, full and open information about our organization - from descriptions of specific projects to the financial statements. The site was a section of the memory of our friends that we lost because of HIV, tuberculosis and drug addiction - the people who are invisible to the Ministry of Health objectionable figure statistics, and for us - those with whom we lived, were friends who loved and Who lost. The site had a lot of materials created with the soul and love, and hope that in our country, something will change for the better. But there was no "promotion of drugs, information on marketing, purchasing, declination to the use of drugs," as stated in the order of the registrar FDCS close our site.
We have already heard that the country begins "cleansing" of public organizations. Prepare the initiative of the ruling party to filter objectionable. Apparently, as in our case, it will start with those who are dealing with the problems for which the State simply does not care to which the state has not reached or a decision which is not beneficial to anyone and is not interesting, except the victims. In our case, these victims - drug-addicted people. People who are in our country are the most despised and hated group: scoundrels and scumbags who are themselves to blame, which can not be treated, and humiliated, beaten with impunity, handcuffed illegally abducted from their homes, starved and forced to provocations. You can throw away with drugs, rob them, or to rot in camps. Who to blame all the problems of society and the state. To help that so simple, but nobody wants. And those few who want to be severely punished. " http://www.snob.ru/profile/16300/blog/45813
Home 
Portal 
Gallery 
Register 
Log in 
