In Mexico, only civil society organizations (CSOs) provide harm reduction services, and they have taken the burden of addressing most of the health needs of persons who use drugs. Public funding has decreased and, currently, is almost non-existent. In addition, academic institutions are responsible for proving how harm reduction works and training health professionals in evidence-based practices. The aims of this study were (1) to develop a harm reduction intervention for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) who engage in chemsex, and (2) to train medicine and psychology students in real-life settings on harm reduction care for gbMSM who engage in stimulant use. We developed a tailored training program with evidence-based information feasible and acceptable for Mexican settings with basic information on (1) substance use, (2) mental health, (3) sexual health, and (4) harm reduction for delivering at the community level. Additionally, we reviewed all the content to ensure stigma-free language to decrease stigmatizing attitudes among the professionals in training as the result of the biomedical concept of substance use and “addiction.”
Medicine and psychology students may have received previous abstinence-based training from their formal lectures, so we developed the training with online lectures and in-person practice activities with CSOs. We expect that the students will develop harm reduction workshops and address the concerns and needs of gbMSM who engage in chemsex and attend the CSOs.