United Nations World Drug Report 2019

The United Nations World Drug Report 2019 released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) makes the following observations:

• Globally around 35 million people are estimated to suffer from drug use disorders and who require treatment services. But only one in seven people with drug use disorders receiving treatment each year.
• Effective treatments, based on scientific evidence and in line with international human rights obligations, are not as available or accessible as they need to be.
• The Report estimates the number of opioid users at 53 million, up 56 per cent from previous estimates and that opioids are responsible for two thirds of the 585,000 people who died as a result of drug use in 2017.
• Around 11 million people injected drugs in 2017, of which 1.4 million live with HIV and 5.6 million with hepatitis C.
• About 271 million people globally, or more than one in 20 of the population aged 15 to 64, used recreational drugs in 2017.

The report was released on the occasion of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking observed on 26th June. The theme of the 2019 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was “health for justice, justice for health”.