In May, at IHRA’s 17th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm in Vancouver, the awards were given for outstanding contributions to harm reduction: the International Rolleston Award – to Dr Robert Newman; the National Rolleston Award – to the Vancouver conference Drug User Advisory Group; and the Travis Jenkins Award – to Jason Farrell.
The International Rolleston Award, recognising individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to harm reduction at an international level, was given to Dr. Robert Newman MD MPH and presented by the IHRA President Pat O’Hare. Dr. Newman has been the leading advocate for the provision of methadone on a maintenance basis for over 35 years, earning him the title of “The Methadone Pope”. He has advised many governments on their policies for injecting drug users, notably the government of Hong Kong where methadone is now available on demand for people dependent on opiates.
Dr. Newman is currently President Emeritus of Continuum Health Partners, which controls several US medical centres. Previously, he has served as the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of Continuum, the first Director of The Baron Edmond de Rothschild Chemical Dependency Institute and the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Beth Israel Health Care System. Dr. Newman has been involved in addiction treatment throughout the world for more than 30 years and is a Professor of Psychiatry, Epidemiology and Population Health.
The National Rolleston Award, in recognition of outstanding contributions to harm reduction at a national level, was given to the conference’s ‘Drug User Advisory Group’. The ‘DUAG’ group formed in May 2005 in order to take an active role in the conference planning process. The group consisted of Bill Nelles (from the IHRA Executive Council), Ann Livingston, Darlene Palmer, Jean Francois Morin, Rob Weppler, Rob Morgan, Dianne Tobin, Chris Livingstone, Sook Lee, Kenn Quayle, Brian MacKenzie, Rosemary Fayant, Raffi Balian, Deb Breau, Brent Taylor, Caitlin Padgett, Warren Michelow and Guilia DiGiorgio.
Through teleconferences, ‘face to face’ meetings and residential weekends, the group ensured that there was a wealth of diverse and challenging user participation at the Vancouver conference. The group were also a driving force behind the unprecedented support for drug users at the conference (such as peer support volunteers, health and safety protocols, a medical room, visa support and the awareness training given to hotel staff). Bill Nelles was presented with a prize of $CD 5,000 on behalf of the group, and this will be donated to the newly-formed ‘Canadian Coalition for People Who Use Drugs’, an organisation which has emerged from the conference’s ‘DUAG’ and aims to provide a voice for Canadian people who use drugs.
Finally, the Travis Jenkins Award, recognising outstanding contributions to harm reduction made by a person injecting (or previously injecting) drugs, was given to Jason Farrell and presented by the previous winner, Paisan Suwannawong. Mr. Farrell is the Founder and Executive Director of PHP (The Positive Health Project www.positivehealthproject.org) The project started in 1993 and, under his guidance, has grown to support over 8,000 clients through syringe exchange, an in-house medical centre, free HIV/HCV testing and free Hepatitis vaccinations.
For the last 15 years, Jason Farrell has been a leading expert in the design and implementation of outreach strategies for the most difficult to reach populations. As well as providing technical assistance for international HIV programmes, Jason Farrell is a trainer, consultant, advocate and researcher on a wide range of harm reduction topics and a certified HIV counsellor and outreach specialist. He is currently a member of the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable and was recently appointed as a member of the National Buprenorphine in HIV Primary Care Setting Planning Committee.
A former ‘punk rock’ musician, Jason Farrell has recently married and is hoping to have children in the near future, when he plans to move to Europe and pursue his consultation work. He was awarded $500US, donated by the family of the late Travis Jenkins, the jazz musician and composer who overcame a heroin addiction.
