“My name is Yanina Stemkovskaya, I have been working “in the field” for many years and I know for sure that medical care, and especially substitution therapy, is traditionally used in this system as a form of blackmail and manipulation. This is a cruel and unfair practice that must be stopped immediately”.
This is the beginning of the speech that Yanina Stemkovskaya, UnMode representative in Ukraine, perform at the #CND66 (Commission on Narcotic Drugs, CND) side even “Harm reduction in prisons in Eastern Europe. Ensuring equal care for people who use drugs in prison” The meeting took place on March 17 in Vienna, Austria.
Top side even speakers: Yulia Krikorian, Program Director, European Prison Litigation Network, Ms Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Jane Batt, Civil Society and Networks Advisor, UNAIDS and Fadi Merouet, President of Health Without Barriers - European Federation for Prison Health.
Experts discussed the challenges government agencies face in implementing harm reduction programs in prison settings and address structural issues in prison systems that impede the implementation of the principles of equivalence and continuity of care, in particular the lack of independence of prison doctors.
“Today I am here to say that prisoners should have access to doctors and medical care independent of the penitentiary system. This will help ensure that prisoners receive the proper medical care they need and deserve without fear of being manipulated or blackmailed by jailers,” Yanina says in her speech.
The side event is co-organised by Promo-LEX and the Prison Health & Rights Consortium composed of EPLN, Harm Reduction International, UnMode – Community Movement for Access to Justice & Health without Barriers – the European Federation for Prison Health.
The Prison Health & Rights Consortium is a civil society advocacy platform established in 2019 to support local civil society organizations and communities of human rights defenders and drug users in monitoring the effectiveness of prison health care, documenting cases of violations of fundamental rights, and expanding the judicial protection of prisoners in national and international courts. This initiative is funded by the Robert Carr Foundation.