The BOOST project aims to support and strengthen community-based and community-led organisations

in providing communicable diseases services as part of
comprehensive, people-centred harm reduction strategies

To accomplish this, we gather data on the availability and quality of existing services for people who use drugs. Additionally, we provide capacity building programs for community-based and community-led organisations.

Through mutual learning, training and mentoring activities, we help them expand the accessibility of these services. Finally, we disseminate the project results and advocate among a wide range of stakeholders.

Background & Objectives

The HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis epidemics pose a burden to public health in Europe and disproportionately affect people who use drugs and other vulnerable populations that cannot easily access health services.

Harm reduction: a leading policy response


As these health risks are frequently associated with problematic drug use, harm reduction has become a leading policy response in this field. As such, harm reduction approaches are supported by the WHO, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Eliminating HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis as health risks by 2030


The ‘fast track’ approach adopted by UNAIDS and the strategy followed by the WHO both support that both HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis can be eliminated as health risks by 2030. Community based and led harm reduction efforts that are shaped around the needs of affected people and communities have proven to be especially successful in combating these epidemics, and are critically important when it comes to bringing these goals into reality.

We support EU and neighbouring countries in fighting communicable diseases


Within this context, the BOOST project aims to support EU and neighbouring countries in reaching agreed goals of minimising the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis, together with other communicable diseases.


Specifically, the project will BOOST the implementation of harm reduction interventions by supporting community-based and community-led services that work to counteract the prevalence of communicable diseases.

With this project

We will BOOST

01
Knowledge

and expertise about communicable diseases and the community based & led services accessible to people who use drugs

02
Capacity

and quality of people-centred interventions that combat the spread of communicable diseases

03
Sharing

and scale-up of good practices among community based and community-led organisations

04
Reach

of existing European harm reduction networks and of their advocacy activities

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