Van Asher

Van Asher is a harm reduction consultant and trainer who has worked in SSPs (Syringe Service Programs) since 1992. He’s run three SSP in NYC and helped open the first SSP in Moscow with the United Nations AIDS Program and the Lower East Side Harm Reduction Center in 1998. In 2016, while working in the Bronx he introduced using Fentanyl Test Strip to test our substances as a harm reduction intervention. He works with harm reduction programs throughout the US providing training and TA. In 2022 he relocated to Oak Park, IL and works with several different SSPs throughout the Midwest. Van also works with Harm Reduction Therapeutics, the makers of RiVive the 3 mg intranasal naloxone and is a partner in Reduce Harm Inc who make up the National Syringe Trust that provides syringes to BIPOC led SSPs that have funding gaps or want to provide syringe services. He has developed several animated harm reduction videos and comic books that are used for training nationwide which can be found here https://www.youtube.com/@vanasherharmreductionpage.