2024-03-14 21:40:37
VIENNA/GENEVA, March 14, 2024—At the 67th session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, UNAIDS called for urgently expanding services to prevent new HIV and viral hepatitis infections among people who use drugs. In her video message to delegates, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima commended some countries for progress in implementing evidence-based programs but called for bolder action .
“The leaders gathered here can make decisions that can save and transform lives, fight social exclusion and protect the public health of all. As leaders, you can deliver on the shared commitment to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, provided that all people can benefit from HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care services. HIV they need. To end AIDS, we must ensure that no one is excluded,” said Ms. Byanyima.
Since the 2019 ministerial statement from the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), progress has been made in rebalancing drug policies in favor of public health. Several countries have moved to a more public health approach to drug use, and some, like Ghana, have decriminalized all forms of personal drug use. UNAIDS supports Brazil in involving transgender women in harm reduction programming.
The context of the response to COVID-19 has led some countries, such as Vietnam, to make the possibility of taking doses home as part of maintenance treatment with opioid agonists more available. Communities are essential to progress in programs and policy reforms. In Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, peer groups are instrumental in providing harm reduction activities, law enforcement training sessions and awareness-raising initiatives, including harm reduction services for women in Kenya.
But progress remains fragmentary. Services such as needle and syringe exchange programs and opioid agonist maintenance therapy, essential for reducing HIV and other health risks among people who inject drugs, are only offered in about 50% of countries. In 2019, UNAIDS reported that only 1% of people who inject drugs had access to recommended harm reduction services, and since then no other country has reported reaching recommended coverage levels.
Too often, laws and policies continue to reinforce exclusion, and people who use drugs are now seven times more likely to live with HIV than other adults. Possession of drugs for personal use is still criminalized in 145 countries, of which 34 countries continue to apply the death penalty. This exacerbates stigma and outright fear, and keeps people away from vital health services.
UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Christine Stegling told the meeting in Vienna:
“We know that banning drugs has failed. Punitive drug laws and punitive law enforcement practices create significant barriers to accessing a range of services for people who inject drugs, thereby increasing their risk of HIV infection and reducing their risk of HIV infection. access to services. To protect public health, we must decriminalize possession of drugs for personal use, we must significantly increase the provision of harm reduction services, and we must ensure that drug-using communities are adequately resourced and empowered. head of the response. »
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) guides and mobilizes the international community to achieve its shared vision: “Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths. » UNAIDS brings together the efforts of 11 UN agencies – UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank. It works closely with global and national partners to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. To learn more, visit unaids.org, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram et YouTube.
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