At the 67th meeting of the UN CND taking place in Vienna, UNAIDS has called for urgent scaling up of services

View this email in your browser ([link removed])
[link removed]
PRESS STATEMENT
français ([link removed]) | español ([link removed])


** UNAIDS urges scaling up of evidence-based services to address the transmission of HIV and viral hepatitis among people who use drugs
------------------------------------------------------------

VIENNA/GENEVA,14 March 2024—At the 67th meeting of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs taking place in Vienna, UNAIDS has called for the urgent scaling up of services to prevent new HIV and viral hepatitis infections among people who use drugs. Addressing delegates ([link removed]) in her video message ([link removed]) , UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, commended some countries for making progress in implementing evidence-based programmes but called for bolder action.

“Gathered here are leaders whose decisions can save and transform lives, tackle social exclusion, and protect public health for everyone. As leaders you can deliver on the shared pledge to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 – if all people can secure the HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care services they need. To end AIDS we need to ensure that no one is excluded,” said Ms Byanyima.

Since the 2019 Ministerial Declaration of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) ([link removed]) there has been some progress in a rebalancing of drug policy towards public health. Several countries have moved towards a more public health-based approach to drug use, with some, such as Ghana, decriminalizing all personal drug use. UNAIDS is supporting Brazil in engaging transgender women in harm reduction programming.

The context of the COVID-19 response led some countries to increase the availability of take-home doses of opioid agonist maintenance therapy, such as in Vietnam. Communities have been central to progress in programmes and policy reforms; in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda peer groups have been instrumental in delivering harm reduction interventions, law enforcement training sessions and awareness-raising initiatives, including women-centred harm reduction services in Kenya.

But progress remains piecemeal. Services such as needle-syringe programmes, and opioid agonist maintenance therapy, crucial for reducing HIV and other health risks among people who inject drugs, only exist in around 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 additional country has reported achieving recommended levels of coverage.

Too often, laws and policies continue to exacerbate exclusion, and people who use drugs are today seven times more likely to be living with HIV than other adults. Drug possession for personal use is still criminalized in 145 countries – with 34 countries retaining the death penalty. The stigma, and outright fear, that this exacerbates is driving people away from vital health services.

Attending the meeting in Vienna, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Christine Stegling said:

“We know that drug prohibition has failed. Punitive drug laws and law enforcement practices create significant barriers for people who inject drugs to access a range of services, increasing their risk of acquiring HIV and reducing their access to services. To protect public health, we need to decriminalize possession of drugs for personal use, we need to significantly scale up harm reduction service provision, and we need to make sure that communities of people who use drugs are adequately resourced and in the lead in the response.”

[link removed]
UNAIDS Executive Director's remarks at the 67th Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs

[link removed]

Data show that people who inject drugs are still being left behind in the response. In 2022, the global median HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs was 5% across 50 reporting countries, seven times higher than among the rest of the adult population. Among the 16 countries with gender disaggregated data, the reported median HIV prevalence among men who inject drugs was 9%, while it was nearly double (15%) among women who inject drugs. Download Global AIDS targets 2025 for people who use drugs: Where are we now? ([link removed])

[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed] https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Funaids.org%2F20240314_united-nations-commission-on-narcotic-drugs Tweet ([link removed] https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Funaids.org%2F20240314_united-nations-commission-on-narcotic-drugs)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
CONTACT
UNAIDS Geneva
Michael Hollingdale
tel. +41 79 500 2119
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Learn more at unaids.org ([link removed]) and connect with us on Facebook ([link removed]) , Twitter ([link removed]) , Instagram ([link removed]) and YouTube ([link removed]) .

============================================================
** X ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
Copyright © 2024 UNAIDS, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in at our web site or you already belong to one of our distribution lists.

Our mailing address is:
UNAIDS
20 Avenue Appia
Geneva 1211
Switzerland
You received this message because your subscription preferences include
Press releases and statements

We also have other email services such as
Monthly newsletter (English)
Résumé hebdomadaire de l'ONUSIDA (weekly updates in French)
Resumen semanal ONUSIDA (weekly updates in Spanish)
Еженедельный обзор ЮНЭЙДС (weekly updates in Russian)
Community Advocacy Update (English)

Want to change which emails you receive?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])

or
** unsubscribe from all UNAIDS emails ([link removed])