International drug policy – health before politics
The purpose of this paper is to explain how international drug policy continues to have a hugely damaging effect on population health, human rights and wellbeing, not only on individuals who consume and/or sell drugs but also on societies as a whole. And to review whether anything has changed after United Nations General Assembly Special Session.
Mortality risk during and after opioid substitution treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies
The objective was to compare the risk for all cause and overdose mortality in people with opioid dependence during and after substitution treatment with methadone or buprenorphine and to characterise trends in risk of mortality after initiation and cessation of treatment.
Preventing overdose deaths in Europe
More than 8 000 lives were reported to be lost to drug overdoses in Europe (EU28 plus Turkey and Norway) in the past year and this is an underestimate. Reducing drug-related deaths therefore remains a major challenge for public health policy. This analysis describes some of the factors that increase the risk of fatal and non-fatal overdoses and a number of interventions developed to prevent these events.
Community management of opioid overdose
Opioid overdose is treatable with naloxone, an opioid antagonist which rapidly reverses the effects of opioids. Death does not usually occur immediately, and in the majority of cases, overdoses are witnessed by a family member, peer or someone whose work brings them into contact with people who use opioids. Increased access to naloxone for people likely to witness an overdose could significantly reduce the high numbers of opioid overdose deaths.
Drug policy in Africa: Towards a human rights-based approach
Global drug control is based on three international conventions from 1961, 1971 and 1988, which all open with a commitment to promote the ‘health and welfare of mankind’.Yet the 1961 and 1971 Conventions make no reference to human rights, and the term only appears once in the 1988 Convention in the context of crop eradication.
The time is now to eliminate Hepatitis C
Humankind has the capacity and knowledge to eliminate the Hepatitis C virus from Earth - but stigma, prejudice and greed stand in the way. Watch the Drugreporter movie produced in cooperation with the Correlation Network and learn more.
Drug-related deaths and deaths among drug users in Ireland: 2004–2014
The latest figures from the National Drug-Related Deaths Index (NDRDI) show that a total of 697 deaths in Ireland during 2014 were linked to drug use.
Combining heroin and commonly prescribed non-opioid pain killers leads to a significant rise in overdose deaths
A multi-disciplinary study has shown that the recent substantial increase in prescriptions for two drugs, pregabalin and gabapentin is closely correlated with a rise in the number of overdose deaths in England and Wales.
Implementing comprehensive HIV and HCV programmes with people who inject drugs
Practical guidance for collaborative interventions.
The rights of drug treatment patients: Experience of addiction treatment in Poland from a human rights perspective
Drug dependence is a recognized medical condition and therefore, right to health applies in the same way to drug dependence as it does to any other health condition.
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