Harm Minimization

Harm minimization is an often-maligned word within The Salvation Army. Even though our social programs operate under the banner of harm min, the majority of church members and the general public do not easily understand it. There have been various forum discussions that have involved Alcohol & Drug (AOD) treatment, needle exchange and legalised brothel work, which have shown an incredible amount of ignorance on the subject of harm min. While this is quite a broad topic, I thought I would write a short explanation in laymen’s terms of harm min.

Harm min is a public health policy that has as its primary aim to keep people as healthy as possible for as long as possible. Harm min is based on three pillars of theory and action 1) Harm Reduction 2) Supply Reduction and 3) Demand Reduction. This encompasses reducing harm to society and individual, reducing the supply of the harmful activity through policing etc. and reducing demand, which is early intervention and education etc.

Abstinence has often been seen as the alternative to harm min, when in fact it is a significant aspect of it. Abstinence is often the ultimate form of harm min. To ultimately stay away from the thing that is hurting you is the goal, but why do we care so much if an addict needs to use a drug, but aren’t so concerned when a fat person rushes in at the buffet table. Rather then people dying of heroin overdose or the myriad of health complications that come with heroin use, methadone or another pharmacotherapy can be used to reduce the harm to the individual. Rather then getting HIV, Hep C or another blood borne virus through the use of dirty and re-used syringes, needle exchange gives single use clean syringes. This results in less HIV and other infections in the general population and reduces the harm to the individual. Harm min is practised in many areas of society without too much thought. Nicobate gum and patches to help smokers quit is a harm min strategy. Gastro band surgery for obese people is harm min strategy to reduce the capacity for an individual to consume food. The anti-reflux tablets I’m on is harm min to stop me getting cancer of the gut. So, harm min is widely used in our society. It is only when our personal moral biases cloud the argument that we come into trouble. Addicts and prostitutes shouldn’t have the same right to being protected as the obese Christian who needs the intervention of the gastro band surgery. It is a moral issues not based on compassion or justice. Harm min is a compassionate philosophy, rooted in the pursuit of justice for the individual and society.