20 February 2025 – Substance use problems characterize one of the crucial urgent public well being challenges of our time, with profound penalties for people, communities, and societies. Drug use problems have an effect on bodily and psychological well being, undermine financial stability and nationwide safety and pressure public well being programs. With drug use rising globally, complete insurance policies and remedy programmes are urgently wanted.
Drug use is linked to a variety of extreme well being points, together with psychological well being circumstances, suicides, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, tuberculosis, and heart problems. Based on the United Nations 2024 World Drug Report, an estimated 292 million folks – 5.6% of people aged between 15 and 64 – used medicine in 2022. That the financial burden of drug use – together with its affiliation with crime, well being issues and misplaced productiveness – accounts for round 2% of GDP in some nations exemplifies the far-reaching impacts of this disaster.
The state of affairs within the World Well being Group’s (WHO) Jap Mediterranean Area, the place 6.7% of the inhabitants report drug use, larger than the worldwide common of 5.6%, is alarming. Opioid use is widespread in nations reminiscent of Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Qatar. In Egypt, tramadol use has turn into as prevalent as hashish. Prescription drug misuse – together with benzodiazepines and Captagon – is more and more widespread in Iraq, Libya and the Syrian Arab Republic.
Since 1990, the variety of folks within the Area with drug use problems has elevated twofold. In 2019, an estimated 3.4 million people have been affected by these problems. The skyrocketing figures correlate with alarmingly excessive charges of HIV and hepatitis C amongst drug customers within the Area. The prevalence of HIV amongst drug customers is eighteen.2%, in comparison with 12.4% globally, and hepatitis C impacts 51.4% of people that inject medicine, properly above the worldwide common of 48.9%.
Regardless of the numerous well being and social penalties of substance use problems, there’s a evident remedy hole. Whereas the 2024 World Drug Report highlights that just one in 11 folks with drug use problems obtain the mandatory remedy globally, the corresponding fee within the Area is 1 in 13. The shortfall will be attributed to a scarcity of entry to healthcare providers, the non-availability of important drugs and the stigma surrounding drug use which prevents many individuals from getting the assistance they want.
To handle these challenges, the WHO Regional Workplace for the Jap Mediterranean launched the Regional Director’s Flagship Initiative to Strengthen Public Well being Response to substance use. The initiative aligns with WHO’s dedication to realize Sustainable Improvement Aim (SDG) 3.5 which goals to strengthen the prevention and remedy of substance use problems.
The substance use flagship initiative seeks to:
leverage WHO’s position because the main coordinating authority for world well being to carry collectively UN businesses, public sector entities, civil society organizations, skilled associations and academia to collectively deal with substance use points;
concentrate on evidence-based interventions to forestall drug use, reduce harms and promote protecting components; and
improve entry to remedy for drug use problems and associated circumstances throughout communities and healthcare platforms.
To advance these efforts, a coverage dialogue was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from 26-28 February 2025. Facilitated by the WHO Regional Workplace for the Jap Mediterranean, in collaboration with the Nationwide Rehabilitation Centre in Abu Dhabi, the assembly introduced collectively public sector entities, UN businesses, civil society organizations and tutorial establishments.
The goals of the coverage dialogue embody:
orienting stakeholders on the objectives and goals of the flagship initiative on substance use;
defining roles and duties to assist the implementation of the initiative in nations throughout the Area; and
initiating the event of country-specific plans to information implementation of the initiative.
The flagship initiative has recognized evidence-based, cost-effective strategic interventions to enhance entry to remedy and assist providers for populations affected by substance use and substance use problems throughout the continuum of care whereas defending and selling the rights of individuals with substance use problems. These interventions necessitate coordination amongst public, personal, and civil society entities working in well being, social welfare, schooling, regulation enforcement and felony justice to assist guarantee extra people obtain the care they want and scale back the social and financial burden of substance use problems within the Area.
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