Despite the epidemic rate of growing use of psychoactive substances after 1990, the public continues to know too little about the drug users, as well as about the risks related to them. In the summer of 2003 four Bulgarian non-government organizations – Initiative for Health Foundation - Sofia, Dose of Love Association - Bourgas, Panacea Foundation - Plovdiv, and Pleven 21 Century Foundation in cooperation with the Addiction Research Institute IVO - Rotterdam succeeded in conducting a survey requiring special efforts. They implemented an outreach approach to the IDUs providing needles and syringes for exchange, as well as health services. As a result from this experience the programmes were able to secure a unique possibility to interview a great number of not easily approachable persons (from hidden and encapsulated communities) who were to provide answers to questions that are not easy to talk about. Author of the publication is Mr. Tihomir Bezlov, senior analyst at Center for the Study for Democracy.
