Transforming drug registry in EECA: from repressive mechanisms to protection of patient rights

Описание: WEBINAR: Transforming drug registry in Eastern European and Central Asian countries: from repressive mechanisms to protection of patient rights, was held on 28 October 2025.

This is a recording in English. Click here for the Russian version:    • Преобразование наркоучета в странах ВЕЦА: ...  .

Drug users registry was formed in the late Soviet period and permeated the practice of working with people who use drugs in all countries of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The practice of maintaining centralized "drug users registries" that list individuals with drug dependence represents a systemic violation of human rights and medical ethics. There is no practical justification for drug registries. Rather than incentivizing treatment access, including OST and HIV/ HCV, they deter people from seeking care due to fears around breached confidentiality and rights deprivation.

Drug user registries should be exchanged for individualized, patient-centered approach that:
1) Protects personal health data and upholds medical confidentiality in line with national laws and EU regulations (in EU and EU accession countries).
2) Allows for profession/license restrictions only after individual assessment and only as absolutely necessary for specific public safety concerns.
3) Empowers healthcare providers to advocate for patients' interests over arbitrary regulations that compel rights violations.
4) Ends stigma by treating drug dependence on par with other health conditions for data collection purposes.

Goal was to dismantle myths about abolishment of the drug registries by providing participants with information and experience of the countries which have transitioned from drug registry to rights and health-oriented systems, in line with EU regulations.

Organizers: Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) and Union for Equity and Health, Moldova.