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MDHHS informing health professionals about harm reduction April 2
April 01, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 1, 2019
CONTACT: Lynn Sutfin, 517-241-2112
LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is hosting the 2019 Michigan Harm Reduction Summit on Tuesday, April 2 to ensure public health professionals are using best practices to protect the health and safety of Michigan residents.
More than 300 public health, public safety, substance use professionals, nurses, physicians, social workers, therapists and educators are registered for the Summit being held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Lansing.
Topics will include syringe access 101, best practices for syringe services program implementation, harm reduction strategies for reducing the transmission of infectious diseases related to injection drug use, overdose prevention, naloxone distribution, stigma and cultural competency.
“I’m proud the department is bringing together dedicated and diverse professionals around strategies for engaging with individuals in crisis, based on science and with compassion,” said Robert Gordon, MDHHS director. “We will learn from each other and we will better serve all Michiganders.”
This summit is particularly timely after Michigan has worked to respond to the largest hepatitis A outbreak in the state which disproportionately impacted populations in need of harm reduction strategies such as substance users. MDHHS is working with the healthcare community to provide education about these efforts as a preventive measure for future response efforts.
The event is being hosted by MDHHS’ Viral Hepatitis Unit, which provides state-level support on viral hepatitis epidemiology, prevention, testing and linkage to care and treatment. More information about viral hepatitis and available resources is available online at Michigan.gov/Hepatitis.
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