Project 'Treatment and Harm Reduction in Moldovan Prisons' (2010-2011)

International organisations jointly committed to healthy prisons

The expert meeting on prison health in Europe which took place in Strasbourg on the 27 May was opened by the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni who advocated for good prison health across Europe based on international standards. The meeting was jointly organised by the Pompidou Group in co-operation with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and brought together high level representatives of international organisations in the field of prison health as well as representatives from the European Court of Human Rights, the European Committee for the prevention of Torture and the Criminal Law Cooperation Unit of the Council of Europe. The aim was to outline the current institutional landscape of prison health in Europe and to explore how to achieve a stronger commitment of health authorities for prisoners’ health. It was agreed that the existing body of international rules and standards for the protection and promotion of the health and well-being of prisoners must be subject to continuous evaluation and development and must take into account the latest developments and scientific evidence in the fields of human rights protection, medical ethics, prevention of torture and ill-treatment and public health. The meeting was also an opportunity to launch together with WHO the new version of the prison health handbook “Prisons and Health”.
Follow the links below for the presentations:

Drug Treatment Systems Overview

Researchers from eleven different countries met on 19 February 2014 at the European Youth Centre of the Council of Europe in Budapest in order to prepare a publication on drug treatment systems in Eastern and South-Eastern European prisons. Here are some impressions of the meeting: 

Building Drug Courts in Malta

On 5- 6 November 2013, an expert team put together by the Pompidou Group and invited by the Maltese National Commission on Drugs consulted the Maltese government and important stakeholders in the police and in the judiciary and civil society on the principles, ethics and objectives of quasi-coerced treatment as well as on the Norwegian experience with drug courts.

MOLDOVA speaks up for better drug treatment services and against social exclusion of prisoners

During three major events in Chisinau – an Open Air Concert entitled “Music is my Drug”, a medical forum on drug dependency treatment and HIV prevention as well as an educative quiz for prisoners – young people, health care professionals and decision makers called for improving drug treatment services and fighting the stigma of people who use drugs, including people who are imprisoned. The events had been jointly organised by the Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) under the auspices of the National Drug Control Committee and in partnership with the NGO “Positive Initiative”.

“Music is my Drug”

On June 23rd the open air music concert “Music is my Drug” was organised, gathering more than 1000 young people and families to enjoy local rock band performances in a drug and alcohol free zone. Ten Moldovan bands performed on a voluntary basis at the "Summer Green-Theatre" in Chisinau: Zdob si Zdub, Ana Gulco and X, Cuibul, Paralela 47, Veriga, Yolka Flyman, Infected Rain, Fire Love, DARA, and Longa. The opening act of the concert was a performer coming from the female prison Number 7. Combining rock music and anti-drug messages provided an opportunity to question the common misconceptions that associate the rock music scene with drug use, a stereotype all performers were eager to break. The revenue from the ticket sales was donated to drug rehabilitation centres and the Therapeutic Community from Berezchi Anenii Noi rayon. The main organiser of the event, the NGO “Positive Initiative”, supports the rehabilitation of drug users including prisoners in Moldova.

Medical Forum on Drug Dependence Treatment and HIV prevention

The Minister of Health of the Republic of Moldova, Andrei Usatîi, attended the International Conference held in Chisinau from 24th to 25th June, where the invited specialists and representatives from governmental, international and non-governmental organisations discussed the latest international evidence on addiction treatment and drug services. The event gathered 90 professionals, including medical doctors, international and regional well known experts, and key specialists from the field of addiction treatment in order to streamline, centralise and disseminate medical knowledge on medication assisted treatment (MAT), harm reduction and psycho-social support in Moldova. The productive exchange of information and best practices amongst colleagues from all over Moldova and with regional and international experts was found very useful by the participants.

Intellectual Quiz “BRAIN RING” for prisoners

The Anti-Drug Campaign in Moldova also involved prisons and pre-trial detention centres which have a significant number of prisoners using drugs and facing heightened stigma and discrimination in society during and after imprisonment. On June 26th an intellectual game, called “Brain Ring”, for prisoners was organised. The event was made possible due to the close cooperation with the Department of Penitentiary Institutions, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Moldova and with support from the NGO “Positive Initiative”. All inmates from 9 different prisons participated in the quiz which tested general knowledge with a special focus on issues related to drug use, HIV and tuberculosis. The three winning teams competed in a free setting: a restaurant in Chisinau city. In order to support the participants, the relatives and family members were also invited to the event.

Drug Prevention Award Ceremony in Romanian Prison

The theatre in the Targsor women prison was completely crowded on 30th of April during the award ceremony for the winners and participants of the drug prevention poster contest. 75 female and male inmates attended the event which had been organised by the Pompidou Group and the Romanian Anti-Drug Agency in collaboration with the National Prison Administration. All inmates who had been producing drug prevention posters in the framework of project "Preventing Drug Trafficking and Abuse in Romanian Prisons" received a certificate and a prize. The 10 winners who have been selected by an international jury received special prizes as well as a glossy brochure containing coloured pictures of all art works created during the projects. The participants cheered and applauded each time when the Head of the Anti-Drug Agency, Mr Sorin Oprea, called a person to come forward to receive a his or her award.

Moldovan Police debate treatment of drug users

How can police officers fulfill their duty in enforcing narcotic law while also supporting uninterrupted access to treatment for drug users? Questions such as these were critically discussed at the workshop on "Preventing Drug Abuse - Treatment and Harm Reduction in Police Arrest" which took place in Chisinau on 15-16 May. The event was organized by the Pompidou Group together with the NGO “Innovating Projects in Prisons” in conjunction with the Anti-Drug Department of the Moldovan Police. The Head of the Anti-drug Department, the Chief of the National Department for Criminal Inspections as well as 25 specialised police officers attended the workshop.
More pictures:

Medical and social professionals join forces to fight HIV/AIDS spread in Moldova and treat drug dependency

The training was highly appreciated by the Moldovan participants. 50 medical doctors (narcologists), psychologists, university lecturers and social workers representing both community and prisons attended the event which took place at a hotel in Vadul lui Voda (near Chisinau), on April 15-17 2013. The goal of the training was to develop a practical approach in addressing the needs of methadone patients. The participants practiced the case management method and working in teams in order to better motivate opiate users to enter methadone treatment. Moreover, with a purpose of fighting stereotypes about methadone substance specialists were introduced to evidence-based medical findings about the safety and effectiveness of Methadone in preventing drug abuse and transmission of HIV/ Hep C.
The training was jointly organised by the Council of Europe Pompidou Group and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Collaborating governmental partners were the Narcology Dispensary and the Department of Penitentiary Institutions. The non-governmental umbrella organisation “Positive Initiative” as well as the coordinators of the NGOs “New Life” and “Youth for the Right to Life” were actively involved in the organisation of the event.

Support for young female offenders at Melitopol (Ukraine)

Since November 2012 the Pompidou Group expert Alla Shut monitors the training-of-trainers (ToT) project at the Melitopol correctional institutions for female juvenile delinquents organised by the Dutch Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine and the Dutch Ministry of Justice. Most of the inmates grew up in orphanages or come from families with serious social and health problems. Often they started smoking, drinking and using psychoactive substances when they were very young. Domestic violence had detrimental impact on their lives as adolescents. This is why there is an urgent need to provide tool to the prison staff that will effectively help the incarcerated teenagers to get adequate care and attain the necessary life-skills needed for reintegration and adaptation in society. Thus, the project aims at preventing drug usage, providing life skills training, supporting resocialisation and re-insertion in society. Three Dutch experts under the guidance of the project leader Robert Suvaal investigated the needs and developed together with 20 local specialists a practical educational training course. The fourth and last meeting of the ToT project will take place 30-31 of May 2013.

Eastern Europe calls for effective drug treatment in prisons

More than 100 participants from 15 different countries attended the conference which took place in Bucharest, 27-28 February 2013. Experts, decision-makers and frontline workers expressed the pressing need for immediate and far-reaching actions towards effective drug treatment in prisons. A highlight was the declaration by the Deputy Minister on Corrections and Legal Assistance of Georgia, Archil Talakvadze, who called for drug policy changes in his country. In his opinion, Georgia's zero-tolerance approach towards the possession of small quantities of illicit drugs for personal use should be reconsidered, drug treatment improved and the number of persons imprisoned reduced. During the conference, well-known doctors and psychologists stressed the need to tackle substance abuse and HIV infections in European prisons. The Moldovan model showed that needle and syringe exchange programmes as well as opiate substitution treatment are key ways to help curb addiction and HIV infections also in Eastern European's lower income countries. A spectacular side-event of the conference was a pantomime play performed by inmates depicting their struggle with drug addiction. After the play the inmates exhibited drug preventions posters which they produced in the framework of the Pompidou Group project ''Drugs in Prison''. Accompanied by mass-media the participants visited on the second day of the conference the Therapeutic Community in Jilava prison in Bucharest. 

International Conference on “Mental Health and Addiction in Prisons”

This international conference is organised by the Pompidou Group in co-operation with the National Anti-Drug Agency of Romania. It will take place at the National Library of Bucharest on 27 February 2013. The conference will focus on the current approaches, regional and European, to improve clinical and psychological drug treatment services in prisons. Participants are invited to share and exchange their knowledge and experiences. A side event will also be organised: an exhibition of drug prevention posters created by detainees living in therapeutic communities.

Serbia - Workshop on Treatment and Risk Assessment

About 50 Serbian prison doctors and educators working in prisons attended the workshop “Improving Treatment Services and Risk Assessment of Drug Users in Prisons”, which took place in Belgrade, Serbia, on 17 and 18 December 2012. The workshop was organised by the Pompidou Group and the Criminal Law Co-operation Unit of the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe in co-operation with the Serbian Prison Administration. 
Among the topics discussed were: the implementation of harm reduction measures, the professional independence of the medical staff as well as the training needs for psychologists and doctors. The participants concluded that it is necessary to strengthen the interdisciplinary working relations between doctors and psychologist on one side and prison directors and security staff on the other side and also to improve collaboration with community organisations in order to create a network of services for providing effective care.