INHSU Southeast Asia

Improving the health and wellbeing of people who use drugs in ASEAN

Viral Hepatitis | HIV | Harm Reduction | Drug Policy

Taking place 15–17 June 2027 at Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, this ASEAN-focused regional conference brings together people from across Southeast Asia to share evidence, learn from local experience and build practical solutions to improve the health and wellbeing of people who use drugs.

Abstracts are open and close 30 November 2026.

Submit an abstract

The event is free to attend and has limited places available.

Expression interest to attend

Why join us?

If you’re working to improve the health or rights of people who use drugs in Southeast Asia, this is a must-attend event. Bringing together research, practice, policy and lived experience to strengthen collaboration and capacity across ASEAN in viral hepatitis, HIV, harm reduction, emerging drug trends and evidence-based policy.

Diverse topics

Sessions will explore innovative approaches to hepatitis C elimination, integrated HIV, HCV and harm reduction services, community-led and peer-based models of care, implementation science, collaborative research, and policy and systems change.

Interactive formats

Experience inspiring plenary presentations, expert speaker sessions, panel discussions, practical implementation-focused learning, and regional networking opportunities designed to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange.

Cross collaboration

Join researchers, healthcare providers, policymakers, community advocates, and people with living and lived experience from across Southeast Asia to share knowledge, strengthen partnerships, and advance evidence-informed responses.

Local expertise, global experience

Co-hosted by Universiti Malaya, this event combines regional leadership with an international network. It provides a forum where local expertise meets global experience to tackle the region’s most pressing challenges.

About INHSU Southeast Asia

While many of the challenges facing people who use drugs are global, the solutions are often regional. Health systems, drug policies, service delivery models and priorities vary across countries, making regional collaboration essential to improving health outcomes.

INHSU’s regional conferences complement our international conferences by creating dedicated forums for region-specific collaboration. They bring together clinicians, researchers, policymakers, community organisations, and people with living and lived experience to address shared challenges, showcase locally developed solutions, strengthen regional research networks, and accelerate the translation of evidence into practice and policy.

Following the success of INHSU Africa in 2020, we are proud to bring our regional conference series to Southeast Asia, a region that has one of the highest rates of injecting drug use globally, and is disproportionately affected by HIV and viral hepatitis.

Across the WHO South-East Asia Region, an estimated 3.5 million people are living with HIV, alongside 42 million people living with hepatitis B and 7 million people living with hepatitis C. Despite this burden, access to evidence-based harm reduction services remains limited. In 2023, the median coverage of prevention services for people who inject drugs was just 21%, while opioid agonist therapy reached only 9% of those who could benefit. Legal and societal barriers continue to prevent many people who use drugs from accessing essential prevention, treatment and care.

Co-hosted by Universiti Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, INHSU Southeast Asia 2027 will create a space to bring together multi-disciplinary delegates from across ASEAN to learn from one another, share what is working, identify common challenges and build stronger regional responses to improving the health and wellbeing of people who use drugs.