Harm reduction offers an opportunity to reach people who aren’t otherwise accessing healthcare services ― and offer them naloxone to reverse an overdose, and help connect them to other needed services. As an example, treatment services (such as medications for opioid use disorder) can be co-located with harm reduction services and offered as an option.

Harm Reduction’s Place in and Among Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery

Harm reduction is part of a comprehensive prevention strategy and the continuum of care. Harm reduction approaches have proven to prevent death, injury, disease, overdose, and substance misuse. Harm reduction is effective in addressing the public health epidemic involving substance use as well as infectious disease and other harms associated with drug use.

As an approach, harm reduction emphasizes kindness and autonomy in the engagement of people who use drugs. It also increases the number of touchpoints (and opportunities) that peers and/or service providers have with people who use drugs.

Specifically, harm reduction services can:

• Connect individuals to overdose education, counseling, and referral to treatment for infectious diseases and substance use disorders.
• Distribute opioid overdose reversal medications (e.g., naloxone) to individuals at risk of overdose, or to those who are likely to respond to an overdose.
• Lessen harms associated with drug use and related behaviors that increase the risk of infectious diseases, including HIV, viral hepatitis, and bacterial and fungal infections.
• Reduce infectious disease transmission among people who use drugs (including those who inject drugs) by equipping them with sterile supplies, accurate information and facilitating referrals to resources.
• Reduce overdose deaths, promote linkages to care, facilitate co-location of services as part of a comprehensive, integrated approach.
• Reduce stigma associated with substance use and co-occurring disorders.
• Promote a philosophy of hope and healing ― by employing people with living and lived experience in leadership and in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of services. People with lived experience can also model for their peers what meaningful change can look like in their lives.
• Build community and increase protective factors ― for people who use drugs and their families.