EMCDDA Director attends inaugural ceremony of new premises of IN-Mouraria harm-reduction centre

Today EMCDDA Director Alexis Goosdeel attended the inaugural ceremony of the new premises of IN-Mouraria, a low-threshold harm-reduction centre based in Lisbon. The centre is supported by the Portuguese Group of Activists on HIV Treatments (GAT), a community-based NGO advocating for the interests of people living with HIV and viral hepatitis and providing essential services to a range of marginalised groups in downtown Lisbon.

IN-Mouraria offers a number of free, confidential services, including: basic healthcare; drop-in opportunities (with peer support and access to food, clothes, hygiene, telephone and internet); rapid testing for HIV, hepatitis B and C and syphilis; referrals to infectious disease clinics and other social services; distribution of injecting and smoking materials (syringes, crack pipes, foil) and safer use education.

The visit provided the Director and EMCDDA staff with a welcome opportunity to touch base with the latest developments in harm reduction at local level. The EMCDDA Strategy 2025 underlines the agency’s role in acting as a catalyst for improving the quality and implementation of interventions and places a special focus on the reduction of drug-related deaths and infections.

EMCDDA Director visits IN-Mouraria harm-reduction centre (June 2018)