Bridging the Gaps: South Africa - Sustainable funding of inclusive community-based services. INPUD

Despite having the seventh highest per capita income in Africa, poverty and inequality are widespread in South-Africa. There are still many gaps to be covered regarding the assistance for people who use drugs (PWUD). It is estimated that there are 67,000 injecting drug users in South Africa. Little reliable data exists on the prevalence of HIV and Hepatitis C among injecting drug users. According to the report ‘the Global State of Harm Reduction 2014’ HIV prevalence is around 19.4%. With the number of injecting drug users rising in a generalised HIV epidemic, the need for comprehensive harm reduction services are enormous. In general, harm reduction services have not yet played a significant role in South Africa’s response to drug use or HIV, since the majority of services remain solely abstinence focused. With rampant violence against people who use drugs, our project aims to both set up harm reduction services and slowly work to improving the human rights of people who use drugs.