International Journal of Drug Policy 22 (2011) 82–86 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Drug Policy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/drugpo Next generation challenges: An overview of harm reduction 2010, IHRA’s 21st conference Simon J. Russell * , James McVeigh Liverpool John Moores University, Centre for Public Health, Kingsway House, Hatton Garden, Liverpool L3 2AJ, United Kingdom article info Article history: Received 22 June 2010 IHRA’s 21st international conference was held in harm reduc- tion’s ‘spiritual home’ Liverpool, England, from the 25 to 29th of April 2010. The first International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm was held in Liverpool in 1990, during a pioneer- ing and formative era of harm reduction (Ashton & Seymour, 2010). Whilst the Icelandic volcano threatened to overshadow events, the conference was attended by over 1100 delegates, from over 80 countries, no small achievement considering the significant impact of international flight cancellations. The five-day conference included keynote speakers, global plenary sessions, major and con- current sessions, poster presentations, as well as the 7th Drugs and Harm Reduction Film Festival, which aired 33 films. This year the festival included a community stream, which showed a selection of films in Liverpool city centre, organised in collaboration with the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT). In addi- tion, following a successful trial organised by the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) in Bangkok 2009, a Dialogue Space was added to the programme, which provided an arena for discussion of a range of issues and ‘hot topics’. The GFATM, a unique global public and private partnership, between govern- ments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities, dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to pre- vent and treat HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis and malaria, again lent their voices to promoting harm reduction at this year’s conference. As is tradition, the IHRA Conference was the platform for the launch of new projects and networks, with harm reduction being the common thread. IHRA’s 21st conference facilitated the official beginnings of the European Harm Reduction Network (EuroHRN) and the International Harm Reduction Academy, a partnership between IHRA and Liverpool John Moores University, designed to give participants an internationally recognised and accredited cer- tificate to demonstrate Continuing Professional Development, in * Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 0151 231 4504/8704; fax: +44 0151 231 8020. E-mail address: S.J.Russell@ljmu.ac.uk (S.J. Russell). addition to maximising participants’ learning opportunities and engagement with the conference. The conference was also the stage for the further development of the International Network of Peo- ple who Use Drugs (INPUD) (see also Byrne & Albert, 2010). The importance of involvement and activism of drug users was empha- sised throughout the conference and epitomised by INPUD, who reinforced the call to better represent people who use drugs in international policy dialogue. The theme of the conference was ‘The Next Generation’, which invited and encouraged delegates to ‘look back, whilst thinking forward’. This major theme resonated with great diversity in line with the temporal, geographical and cultural distinctiveness repre- sented at the conference, with discussion ranging from the effects within individuals to the widespread consequences of international law. Some of these key themes were also reflected in a special issue of this journal published to coincide with the conference (Stimson & O’Hare, 2010). Within the major theme, the rapporteur team iden- tified key areas of significance and emphasis; international law and policy, evidence frameworks and application, human rights and criminality, widening the agenda and the most vulnerable groups. International law and policy Unfortunately, Michel Sidibé, the Executive Director of UNAIDs and keynote speaker, was the most high profile victim of the Ice- landic volcano but stated in his video address that ‘harm reduction had reached the tipping point and that solid scientific evidence shows harm reduction prevents new infections’ and that ‘reach- ing zero HIV infections amongst new drug users is not a dream, it is a reality in countries with full scale programmes’. He also called for the continued lobbying for human rights and the decriminali- sation of possession offences: ‘We must be prepared to speak out about human rights abuses wherever they occur, the kinds which are being committed today in the name of drug detention must be denounced. I have made the call to decriminalise drug users as one of my main efforts as UNAIDs Executive Director’. Delivering 0955-3959/$ – see front matter © 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2010.10.005