Access to Health

We strive to address the health challenges experienced by people who use drugs in accessing quality health services. The program ensures that people who use drugs have access to comprehensive harm reduction services including prevention, testing and life-saving treatment for HIV, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections.

The UHRN Drop in Center

We run a ‘one stop’ Drop in Centre that addresses various needs of people who use drugs and other key population community members.

Our Approaches

1.      HIV Self-Testing: We use the HIV Self-Testing approach as HIV screening tool and distribute the self-testing kits in the hotspots in order to meets the needs and address challenges of increasing access to knowledge of HIV status among people who use drugs.

2.      Social Network Strategy (SNS). We use SNS as an approach for successfully identifying  people who use drugs with undiagnosed HIV infection for  HIV testing and other HIV prevention services

3.      Peer to Peer Approach:

4.      DIC Outreaches: We have DIC outreach workers and peer educators who extend Mobile HIV Testing Services, Home Based HIV Testing, ART and PrEP refills and many of other DIC services into the community.

DIC Services Offered

  • Risk Reduction Counseling and Behavioral Change Communication: We deliver risk reduction behavior change information  through one to one, one to group interactions and through Information Education and Communication materials
  • Needle and Syringe Exchange: The Needle and syringe program (NSPs) is a harm reduction initiative that provides clean needles and syringes to people who inject to reduce transmission of HIV and other blood borne viruses such as hepatitis B and C. UHRN advocates for access to, and safe disposal of injection equipment.
  • Psycho Social Support for all psychosocial support needs and for MAT maintenance
  •  Overdose Management
  •  Screening and Referral for Medically Assisted Therapy   (MAT)
  •  HIV Testing and Counseling and referral for HIV Care and Treatment
  •  Condom education, promotion and distribution
  •  STI screening and Management
  • Tuberculosis (TB) Screening and  referral for treatment
  • Viral hepatitis B and C screening and referral for treatment

Access to Justice

The Access to Justice Unit documents and monitors human rights violations committed in the name of drug control, and advocates to promote the human rights of people who use drugs and their communities.

Our advocacy places human rights firmly at the center of a harm reduction approach to ensure the health, well-being and security of people who use drugs, while respecting their agency and human rights at all times is realized.