On or around Monday 26th June 2017 - International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, people gathered in more than 130 cities from 69 countries across the world to take part in the fourth Support. Don’t Punish “Global Day of Action”. This was a clear show of force for harm reduction and drug policy reform, with a wide variety of actions organized by civil society partners and networks of affected groups around the world.
Photo: Logo with straplines of Support. Don't Punish campaign
In Asia and Vietnam, ANPUD (Asian Network of People who Use Drugs) and VNPUD (Vietnam Network of People who Use Drugs) with representatives Ms. Nguyen Minh Trang - VNPUD Coordinator and Ms. Pham Thi Minh - Head of VNPUD Executive Board, representative of ANPUD Executive Board, joined the campaign.
Photo (from left to right): Mr.Lưu Quốc Thiện, Mrs. Phạm Thị Minh and Ms. Nguyễn Minh Trang from ANPUD and VNPUD
Moreover, on Health Insurance day of Vietnam (1/7/2009 - 1/7/2017), SCDI, authorities representatives, police and CBOs gathered in The conference of "Health insurance for patients of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria: difficulties and solutions", in June 30, 1977 at the guest house of the National Assembly, 27A Tran Hung Dao, Hanoi. The CBOs of people who use drugs, people living with HIV, tuberculosis and malaria presented their support for promoting drug policy reform, human rights enforcement with harm reduction interventions.
Photo: Members of CBOs of PUD, PLHIV, tuberculosis, malaria joining the "Support. Don't punish." campaign
Photo: Members of CBOs of PUD, PLHIV, Sexworkers, MSM and TG, joining the "Support. Don't punish." campaign
Support. Don’t Punish is a global advocacy campaign calling for better drug policies that prioritise public health and human rights. The campaign aims to promote drug policy reform, and to change laws and policies which impede access to harm reduction interventions. The campaign actions in 2016 and 2017 included giant video projections, street art, rallies, concerts, petitions, sports events, film screenings, information stands, media stunts and much more to call for drug policy reform.
The Support. Don’t Punish campaign aligns with the following key messages:
- The drug control system is broken and inneed of reform
- People who use drugs should no longer be criminalised
- People involved in the drug trade at low levels, especially those involved for reasons of subsistence or coercion, should not face harsh or disproportionate punishments
- The death penalty should never be imposed for drug offences
- Drug policy in the next decade should focus on health and harm reduction
- By 2020, 10% of global resources expended on drug policies should be invested in public health and harm reduction.
Support. Don’t Punish campaign’s official website:
http://supportdontpunish.org/
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