Injecting Drug Use and Harm Reduction

I was recently quoted, along with a colleague and some of our out-reach workers in an article on increased levels of injecting drug use in the Western Cape.

The message is important, and unless substitution therapies are introduced it is likely that there will be a significant increase in overdose deaths and a spread in HIV and other infectious diseases.

This article was originally published on Ground Up and then on allAfrica. The article is by Ian Broughton, and the photo is by Andrea Schneider.

Healthcare workers worry injecting heroin on increase

Sunday 31 August was International Overdose Awareness Day. Health workers in Cape Town have warned of a possible increase in drug overdoses and the spread of infectious diseases, including HIV, if the use of needles to inject drugs increases.

Famous for Being Homeless

I went viral. I wrote a seemingly innocuous anonymous letter to the press about being homeless and it received over 60 000 views and 700 shares from one facebook page alone. It was suggested that I did not exist and that the journalist who read out my letter on air had made me up, so I decided to "out" myself. Since then I have been sought for interviews in the press and on radio. I am not necessarily comfortable with all this media exposure, but if it can help give the marginalised a voice, I will use it. Hopefully this will help me bring the issues that are on my heart regarding addictive disorders and mental health into the public consciousness and promote debate. Here is the story: