This side event for the 65th Commission on Narcotic Drugs was originally presented on 14 March, 2022. Organised by INPUD, it was co-sponsored by Médecins du Monde, UNAIDS, UNODC HIV/AIDS Section, the Netherlands and Australia.

In 2021, thanks to significant advocacy work by people who use drugs and other key population networks, both the Global AIDS Strategy 2022-2026 and the 2021 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS committed Member States to fulfill bold new targets on ‘social enablers’ which have significant implications concerning drug policy.

This event reviewed this advocacy work and...

The 2021-2026 Global AIDS Strategy has bold and critical new targets on realizing human rights, reducing stigma, discrimination and violence and removing harmful punitive laws as a pathway to ending inequalities and ultimately ending AIDS.

To aid in the scale-up of interventions to remove these societal barriers, UNAIDS has produced a series of fact sheets on human rights in various areas, highlighting the critical need to scale up action on rights. 

This factsheet provides an overview of the latest data, shares information on human rights, and describes the global targets and standards.

Sharing drug injecting equipment increases the risk of transmitting and acquiring blood-borne infections, such as HIV and hepatitis B and C. While hepatitis C is the most prevalent blood-borne viral infection among people who inject drugs (PWID), injecting drug use remains an important mode of HIV transmission in some EU countries, and local outbreaks continue to occur. Despite falling HIV transmission rates in recent years, more than 1 in 10 new AIDS cases in the EU are still attributed to injecting drug use. This may signal late diagnosis or poor case management, both of which are avoidable...

BACKGROUND:

The high prevalence of HIV and substance use disorders (SUD) in Ukraine remains a significant public health problem. A well-trained, recovery-oriented national workforce to enhance SUD treatment associated with HIV care is needed to reduce substance use and HIV-related burden in the country.

METHODS:

The Ukraine Addiction Transfer Technology Center (Ukraine ATTC) was established in 2017 to provide training and technical assistance on the intersection of HIV and SUD to support efforts to control the HIV epidemic in Ukraine. Data were derived from Ukraine ATTC initiatives in its...

This article explores the lessons learned during the implementation of a peer-facilitated hepatitis C virus hepatitis C testing and treatment access project called the Live Hep C Free project in contributing to micro-elimination efforts.

The Live Hep C Free project aims to facilitate access to on-the-spot hepatitis C virus testing, treatment, and care in priority settings through a partnership between a peer worker and a clinical nurse. Since the start of the project in January 2018, 4515 people were engaged about hepatitis C virus and encouraged to access on-site hepatitis C virus health...

Early detection of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome allows infected people to use prophylaxis against opportunistic infections and beginning immediate treatment for secondary complications. People who receive treatment benefit from increased social support and, more crucially, change their behaviour to prevent the virus from spreading to others. One of the most major methods of HIV transmission is through medication injections, and this group is responsible for the spread of HIV since they are ignorant of their illness. The coexistence of HIV and other opportunistic infections and illnesses...

There is a scarcity of research on drug use patterns among HIV-positive young individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa (YLWH). To fill the gap, the following was set out:

1. compare the prevalence of substance use, specifically alcohol and illicit drug use, among YLWH to their HIV-uninfected peers;
2. look into the independent relationship between HIV infection status and substance use among these young people;
3. look into the risk indicators for substance use among these young people.

Between November 2018 and September 2019, a cross-sectional study was conducted at the Kenyan coast recruiting 819...

COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) was classified a pandemic on March 11, 2020, with early reports of the disease occurring in the Middle East and North African (MENA) area. On January 2021, the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (WHO-EMRO) reported 5,566,708 confirmed cases with 131,886 fatalities to date. Since 2016, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) area has seen a modest but steady growth in the harm reduction response.

Little is known about the region's health response and the situation of drug users (PWUD) during the outbreak. During COVID-19, the MENA Harm...