29 August 2024
In our latest Meet the Members interview, we speak with Vera Da Ros, a new INHSU member and a scholarship recipient for INHSU 2024, taking place this October in Athens, Greece.
Based in São Caetano do Sul in Brazil, Vera’s scholarship award recognises her exceptional contributions to harm reduction and human rights advocacy in her country.
As an international adviser for REDUC — the Brazilian Harm Reduction and Human Rights Network — Vera has been instrumental in fostering legislative discussions and engaging with public councils, state and local governments, technical advisory groups and other groups to promote progressive drug policies, with medical marijuana a focus to opening doors to discussions.
We look forward to welcoming Vera to Athens.
Tell us a bit about your background and what you do. Why did you choose this path? And how did you get there?
I was working as a psychotherapist in a public daycare service for people who use drugs when the HIV/AIDS crisis began, quickly becoming our new challenge. This was the early 90s, and we realised that harm reduction was the path we needed. I became part of a multi-professional team, working to introduce new tools to save lives.
What is the most important issue facing people who use drugs in your country, and why?
The segregation of people who use drugs perpetuates stigma and undermines fundamental rights. Brazil’s prohibitionist laws fuel a war on drugs that targets poor, vulnerable, black communities, relying on incarceration, violence, and compulsory hospitalisation rather than health-based approaches.
We do our best to spread quality information and capacity-building seminars across the country, but we lack the resources and funding to meet the national demand.
What do you think can be done to help?
At REDUC, we are trying to mobilise all political figures, academics, and notable people to better understand and discuss decriminalisation, social justice, education, and human rights. We talk with the media and use social media to spread this information.
Our discussion on harm reduction is not only about practical approaches to minimising the harms associated with drug use but also about recognising and addressing the social and structural barriers that perpetuate exclusion and marginalisation.
We are looking for communities and authorities to understand that care doesn’t need to be punitive. It needs to empower people who use drugs, expanding therapeutic possibilities and perspectives for their quality of life. Harm Reduction non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are key in promoting this change.
What is the one thing you’ve come across in your career that you think everyone should know if they work with people who use drugs?
Listening to and working with people who use drugs as partners is the best tool a professional has.
What other issues are impacting people who use drugs in your country?
Brazilian NGOs are striving to impact drug policies and improve care models by merging our knowledge with our international progressive partners. We need to rescue the achievements of Brazil’s Universal Health Care System (SUS), which promotes inclusion, equity, and integration but has been under attack for six years before the new government.
What are you most looking forward to as a scholarship recipient at INHSU 2024?
I look forward to exchanging experiences with partners and learning more about health issues to address better the needs of people who use drugs, moving towards more humane, evidence-based, and rights-oriented policies.
