Substance use disorders are health disorders. Globally, there are an estimated 300 million drug users, yet only a small fraction receive treatment.
New types of highly potent synthetic drugs are emerging every year, presenting significant public health risks.
Stigma, discrimination, criminalization of people using drugs, and fear of punishment continue to push people away from care and away from the health systems that should protect them.
A strong health response to drug-related harms requires health systems that:
- integrate services for mental health and substance use with services to prevent communicable diseases at the primary health care level;
- engage communities and civil society;
- and support families, protect children, and reach people in prisons, in humanitarian crises, and on the margins of society.
I salute the Government of #Uzbekistan for hosting, with @UNODC, the International Forum on Countering Transnational Drug Threats to Public Health and Security in Samarkand and putting increased attention on this critical health area.
My speech to the Forum: www.who.int/news-room/speeches/item/who-di...