Improvements in treating drug use disorders

The meeting was attended by over 40 specialists from countries such as the United States, Pakistan, Georgia, Iran, Romania and Russia; as well as organisations that are part of the Paris Pact, such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The meeting was organised by the UE-ACT project Action Against Drugs and Organised Crime, which is financed by the EU and managed by FIIAPP. The discussions focussed on the implementation of international standards on treating drug use disorders, as well as on problems and obstacles for implementation by participating States.

Among other issues, emphasis was placed on questions relating to drug users’ access to health services to ensure they are not stigmatised as a result of their drug use. In some countries, data on some drug users are kept in state registers and then used to deny them assess to public services or even jobs. In addition, the supply of methadone continues to be prohibited or extremely limited in some countries.

Finally, as a closing act, the meeting issued some recommendations that the countries were invited to apply, these included establishing national institutions to develop data collection systems and asking the partner countries to develop national drug treatment standards.