LEAHN Country Focal Point for Tanzania (Pictured right) Inspector Abdallah Said Kirungu
Abdallah Said Kirungu is an Inspector with the Tanzanian Police Force. He has a Bachelor of Public Administration (2009) from Mzumbe University, Tanzania, and a Master of Arts – specialising in International Relations – (2013) from Dodoma University, Tanzania. Currently, his work focus is related to Community Oriented Policing and Conflict Resolution. Inspector Kirungu became involved in harm reduction in 2011 when he joined with staff from the Muhimbili National Hospital and Allied Science (MUHAS) and conducted two months of observational study at hotspots for drug users and commercial sex workers. This experience brought the realisation that law enforcers have an important role to play in harm reduction.
Inspector Kirungu became the first inspector of police in Tanzania to declare that police must do something to help these vulnerable groups because this is a social health problem.Inspector Kirungu has attended and delivered plenary presentations a number of international forums on harm reduction, including International Conference on Harm Reduction held in Vilnius, June 2013, and the International Conference on Drug Policy and Policing held November 14-15, 2013 Frankfurt, Germany.
In 2013, Inspector Kirungu facilitated a number of training sessions for police about harm reduction with the support of Medicines du Monde. The success of these collaborations has garnered support for the implementation of harm reduction training within the Tanzania Police Force Academy for police recruits commencing in 2014.
