Mat

Southwell

Mat Southwell was one of the first generation of harm reduction workers to respond to HIV among people who inject drugs. Mat founded the Healthy Options Team (HOT) in 1991 and went onto to lead East London and City NHS Drugs Services. This included a dynamic partnership with local GPs in a pioneering shared care opioid agonist treatment (OAT) scheme that engaged some of the most marginalised people who use drugs in healthcare. Mat came out publicly as a drug user activist on a BBC TV documentary in 2001. Since this time, he has worked in the drug user rights movement from the local to the global. He is half-time Project Executive for the European Network of People who Use Drugs (EuroNPUD). He is Managing and Technical Director for Coact Technical Support LTD who deliver technical support about and with people who use drugs in humanitarian aid settings. Mat is a strong supporter and reluctant consumer of OAT.