Great progress has been made in defining the world drug problem as a public health and in raising awareness of the issue of lack of access to controlled medicines. Improving access is now an area of consensus following a highly contentious drug policy debate and a yearlong preparatory process for the UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS) which took place from April 19-21, 2016 in New York.
Limited access to essential medicines for the treatment of pain, palliative care, surgery, substance use disorder and mental and neurological conditions, is one of the least recognized and most egregious tragedies in global health. National and international drug control policies have historically put the focus on restricting access to controlled substances. Unduly restrictive national regulations leave the vast majority of the most vulnerable and marginalized patients in agonizing pain and distress. Untreated pain traumatises families, caregivers, and providers, who must often stand by helplessly and witness what is in fact very treatable suffering. 75% of the world’s population lack access to controlled substances for medical and scientific use.
The recommendations from the UNGASS and from a concurrently held, high-level UN meeting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require Member States to develop innovative inter-governmental processes and synergies to achieve the 17 goals and their many targets. In order to improve access to palliative care and controlled essential medicines, healthcare providers, government officials, and representatives of UN agencies such as the World Health Organization, must be involved in ongoing ‘multi-stakeholder dialogues’ that will be a feature of this process.
Our joint commitment to effectively addressing and countering the world drug problem
The next drug policy milestone is the UNGASS 2019, when UN Member States will report on their progress. The hard work now begins to operationalize the recommendations made at UNGASS 2016. WHO will lead that process, coordinating with other UN agencies to assist governments to develop the outcome measures and associated processes. A number of WHO Member States have requested that the public health aspects of the world drug problem be discussed in the plenary session of the World Health Assembly. As a first step, the WHO Secretariat will a report on the outcomes of the UNGASS to the 69th World Health Assembly (A69/12) for guidance on further activities.
A69/12, Public health dimension of the world drug problem including in the context of the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the World Drug Problem, held in April 2016. Report by the Secretariat.