Dear colleagues,

Worrying news from Romania. The Government decided to move the National Anti-Drug Agency under the Police Inspectorate. More details - in the attached and below copied open letter from Romanian Harm Reduction Network (RHRN).

RHRN is asking to send protest letters to the following addresses:
Romanian Ministry of Administration and Interior - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Romanian Ministry of Health - Public relations office - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and Media relations - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Romanian Ministry of Justice - Public information office - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Romanian Public Ministry - Petitions - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Romanian Prime Minister - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Romanian Deputy Chamber - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Romanian Senate - Public information office - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

In solidarity, Raminta

Raminta Stuikyte
EHRN | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | www.harm-reduction.org
NGO in Special Status with Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC)

To: The Romanian Prime Minister
The Ministry of Administration and Interior
The Ministry of Health
The Ministry of Justice
The Public Ministry
The Chamber of Deputies: Committee for Health, Committee for Human Rights, Committee for Education
The Romanian Senate:     Committee for Health, Committee for Human Rights, Committee for Education
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM)

Subject:

Open Letter: The Fight Against Drugs Was Abandoned in Romania!

ARAS – the Romanian Association Against AIDS, the Alliance to Fight Alcoholism and Toxicomany (ALIAT), Close to You Foundation Romania, Integration Association, Samusocial România, the Foundation for Community Care Services, united under the Romanian Harm Reduction Network and supported by APADOR CH, Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation, Parada Foundation Romania, ACCEPT, and PsyMotion Clinic, draw the attention of the Romanian state representatives, of the funders of HIV prevention programs for drug users, of the international agencies responsible for human rights monitoring and drug policy and of the public opinion with regards to a dangerous situation created by the Government Decision published in the Official Journal of Romania part I, no 156/12.III.2009, which states that the National Anti-Drug Agency will be restructured under the authority of the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police.

As service providers, drug treatment patients’ representatives, in the name of equal access to health services, the Romanian Harm Reduction Network member organizations and the organizations that support this initiative consider that the Government Decision in its current form is unclear. The process of restructuring or the hasty transfer of drug services from the National Anti-Drug Agency to another state structure could be the source of stops in the provision of substitution treatment.* In our opinion, this action will lead to a decrease in public security and will endanger public health. At present, the centers developed by the National Anti-Drug Agency provide substitution treatment for more than 200 patients and non-substitution treatment for more than 1,000 patients at national level. If the treatment is interrupted, there is a strong probability for those patients to relapse in drug use and risky behaviors.

We consider that this restructuring process of the National Anti-Drug Agency and the transfer of the drug information, prevention and treatment services to another authority should be transparent and should be decided with the involvement of all relevant stakeholders.

Based on the analysis of the above-mentioned Government Decision, the Romanian Harm Reduction Network draws the attention of the Romanian Government representatives over the following aspects:

If the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police takes over the National Anti-Drug Agency, a part of this agency’s attributions will be abandoned because:
•    the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police does not have the certification necessary for collecting data on demand reduction from other state institutions and from NGOs – the National Focal Point, a key institution responsible with data collection and reporting to the EMCDDA will cease to exist: Romania will no longer be able to report quality data on drug prevalence and trends to the European Union and thus will fail its obligations as an EU member state in monitoring the implementation of drug policies and strategies;
•    the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police does not have the capacity to provide drug services and to assure confidentiality for drug patients’ personal data – if the drug services are transferred to the Ministry of Health, this transition might be difficult and too long, endangering substitution treatment provision – more than 1,200 patients will be pushed back to illicit drug use, therefore to drug related crimes;
•    the substitution treatment centers under the supervision of the Ministry of Health are already overcrowded – the attempt to integrate patients from the National Anti-Drug Agency into this system is impossible;
•    the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police cannot coordinate and monitor the implementation of the National Drug Strategy – this situation represents a regress of drug policies back to 2004.

The hasty restructuring of the National Anti-Drug Agency might have several negative consequences:
•    the whole legislation created between 2003-2008 to regulate the national drug treatment and assistance will be reviewed and adapted according to this Government decision; these efforts might be shortened if the restructuring process were to be analyzed, discussed and agreed upon with all relevant stakeholders, not only at ministerial level;
•    the transfer of drug services from the National Anti-Drug Agency to the Ministry of Health could be formal, without any content: the Centers for Drug Prevention, Evaluation and Counseling and the Centers for Integrated Assistance of Addictions developed by the National Anti-Drug Agency are not legal entities and the Ministry of Health can take over only the medical staff of these services – in this way, the multidisciplinary teams will be lost, affecting the quality of these services;
•    all regulations referring to the national drug treatment system and assistance are useless without the existence of a specific structure with clear responsibilities in this field;
•    the professionals working in the National Anti-drug Agency services will be forced to leave this field or will be re-oriented to other departments in the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police, without having the opportunity to use their expertise – thus, we will lose professionals in a field already lacking qualified staff;
•    corroborated with the effects of the financial crisis, this very probable stop in substitution treatment will lead to an increase in drug related crime and will endanger public health by increasing risky behaviors among former patients receiving opiate substitution treatment (OST), such as needle and syringe sharing;
•    once relapsed into illicit drug use, the former OST patients might get involved in drug related crimes, thefts and burglaries in order to obtain the money to buy illicit drugs, which will lead to arrests and incarcerations – in this way, a community issue which could have been solved through medical treatment and social care will be transferred to prisons, where it will increase the risks for HIV and hepatitis C epidemics among prisoners.

The budget savings that are supposed to result from this Government decision in its present form should be compared to the European projects budgets run by the National Anti-Drug Agency, estimated to 6 million Euros. In the present conditions, the sustainability of the national drug treatment system, supported through European grants, can no longer be guaranteed and the premises for paying back these funds to the European Union are created.

The objective of the Romanian Ministry of Administration and Interior is to assure the security of citizens living in Romania. It is beyond any doubt that opiate substitution treatment contributes to a reduction in drug related crimes among drug users and therefore contributes to maintaining the public security through innovative methods which represent an alternative to the classic law enforcement approach.

If HIV and hepatitis among injecting drug users are relatively controlled in Romania, this is the result of services provided on an equal basis by the NGOs, the Ministry of Health and the National Anti-Drug Agency.

Romania has assumed the fight against drugs as a priority and, as an UN member state, Romania is committed to observe international regulations and declarations on drug control. The UN member states drafted a new declaration on drugs, putting health at the very basis of international drug policies and acknowledging the shared responsibility of all parts involved in this field. Most European states have increased the access to harm reduction services, treatment and care for drug users. In Romania, the service offer is very low compared to drug users’ demand for treatment, therefore new centers should be developed in order to provide the Romanian citizens affected by drugs with the chance to get their lives back in their own hands.

We hereby request the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Administration and Interior and the Ministry of Health to initiate as soon as possible consultations with all relevant harm reduction and drug treatment stakeholders.

We also request the Ministry of Administration and Interior and the Ministry of Health to provide detailed information on the procedures regulating the drug treatment services transfer, because we estimate that closing these services even for a few days will have negative effects, such as the return to illicit drug use among patients receiving substitution treatment, an increase in withdrawal and overdose cases and antisocial acts.

This letter is signed by:

RHRN members:

Maria Georgescu, Executive Director
ARAS - Asociația Română Anti-SIDA

Eugen Hriscu, Program Manager
Alianța de Luptă Împotriva Alcoolismului și Toxicomaniilor (ALIAT)

Angela Achitei, President
Fundația Alături de Voi România

Camil Dumitriu, Executive Director
Asociația Integration

Mirela Alexe,
Executive Director
Samusocial din România

Gabriela Gheorghe,
Executive Director
Fundația de Îngrijiri Comunitare

Valentin Simionov,
Executive Director
Rețeaua Română de Reducere a Riscurilor

Organizations supporting this initiative:

APADOR CH

Fundația Romanian Angel Appeal

ACCEPT

Fundația Parada România

Clinica PsyMotion

We invite all harm reduction organizations to support this initiative and to help us prevent this crisis.

Romanian Harm Reduction Network (RHRN) was created in 2002 as an informal network and it was registered in November 2006 an an association. Our mission is to promote the harm reduction approach by facilitating the dialog among civil society, public and private institutions, government representatives. RHRN supports the implementation of responsible drug policies, taking into accound the needs of drug users, marginalized groups and general population. More information about RHRN http://rhrn.ro/index.php?l=ro&t;=3

-----Original Message-----
From: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it [mailto:]
Sent: Friday, March 20, 2009 12:55 PM
To: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Subject: RHRN opren letter

Dear Raminta,

Please find attached an open letter representing our position with regards to a recent government decision referring to the re-structuring of the National Anti-drug Agency under the authority of the Romanian Police Inspectorate.

Can you please circulate it among the EHRN member organizations?

Wirh regards,

Vali

Valentin Simionov
Director Executiv
Romanian Harm Reduction Network
Bvd. Burebista, Nr. 3,
Bl. D16, Sc. 2, Ap. 44
Sector 3, Bucuresti
Tel. +40314 202 109
Mob. +4073