ISSUP Regional Network Meeting Report
The ISSUP International Expert Network Meeting, held on 3rd July 2026, brought together representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, alongside colleagues from ISSUP, UNODC and WHO. The meeting presented issues and priorities arising from global regional developments in drug availability and use, and considered implications and opportunities for capacity building and networking across the Asia–Pacific region.
Intention of this report:
- Summarise the meeting held on the 3rd July 2026
- Provide recommendations on what ISSUP activities the global region should focus on
Emerging issues
The prevalence and rise of methamphetamine use was the most consistent concern across the global region. Data presented by UNODC indicated methamphetamine accounts for a substantial proportion of treatment admissions in East and Southeast Asia, while country presentations identified rising methamphetamine use, trafficking and treatment demand. Attendees highlighted a lack of systems capacity and treatment options, the need for shared learning on effective treatment, prevention and for measures to reduce potential harms.
Novel psychoactive substances, synthetic stimulants, potent synthetic opioids and emerging street benzodiazepines were also raised as regional concerns. Kazakhstan, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia each described rapidly changing drug markets, including synthetic opioids, synthetic cannabinoids, ketamine, kratom and unregulated benzodiazepines. These trends reinforce the need for better early warning systems, clinical intelligence and mechanisms for sharing information about emerging harms.
The Pacific was identified as a particular area of current concern in relation to methamphetamine and cocaine trafficking, organised crime and youth recruitment and an emerging public health emergency. Transnational criminal networks are operating through shipping, travel, financial transfers, online platforms and legitimate businesses, with young local Pacific people recruited through peers, debt, social media, travel offers and promises of income. This is directly impacting uptake of local drug use in Pacific nations, particularly Fiji, where there is currently the fastest growing HIV epidemic due to injecting drug use in the world. Capacity to respond to blood borne viruses, as well as drug use and drug-related harm, within the Pacific region is severely limited. Australia and New Zealand are partners that can potentially play a role in supporting a public health response.
Several countries reported changing demographics of use, particularly among women and young people. Indonesia noted higher odds of methamphetamine use disorder among women; Sri Lanka raised heroin use among women, including pregnant women; Bangladesh identified adolescents and university students as key targets for drug markets; and Australia noted increasing use among young women, alongside an ageing population of people who inject drugs. These patterns point to the need for gender-responsive and youth-focused approaches to drug treatment.
Adjacent concerns emerged, particularly online gambling and vaping. Indonesia described online gambling as a national crisis, while the Philippines highlighted gambling addiction and the normalisation of vaping and e-cigarette use among young people. These issues potentially highlight the need to broaden the scope of the ISSUP network to include behavioural addictions and nicotine-related harms.
Several countries identified limited prevention and treatment capacity and limited measures to reduce potential harms. WHO highlighted persistent mental health and substance use service gaps across the Western Pacific, including limited funding, workforce shortages and slow transition from institutional to community-based care (e.g. working with social workers and community-based support providers). Country presentations from the broader Asian region similarly described shortages of addiction professionals, limited standardised treatment, weak recovery supports and uneven implementation of evidence-based services.
Opportunities to collaborate
The strongest collaboration opportunity was workforce development. ISSUP’s global infrastructure, including its National Chapters, webinars, newsletters, Drug Data Hub, ASSIST web app and emerging ISSUP Academy, provides a practical platform for training, professionalisation and knowledge exchange across countries.
Country presentations identified shared training needs in evidence-based prevention, treatment and recovery support; stimulant use disorders; NPS; overdose prevention; trauma-informed and gender-responsive care; youth engagement; digital safety; and implementation of WHO/UNODC standards. Bangladesh, Malaysia, Kazakhstan and the Philippines each highlighted certification, mentoring, continuing professional development or accredited curricula as priorities.
Participants also identified opportunities to build regional early warning and monitoring systems. These could link health services, researchers, police, customs, schools, youth services, community organisations and national drug observatories to track emerging substances, digital drug markets, and changing patterns of harm. Shared data systems and indicators were considered important, with emphasis that governance must ensure local ownership. The New Zealand chapter highlighted the development of their successful online drug trend monitoring survey (NZDTS) that potentially could be a
model for other countries in the region. It was agreed that a regional monitoring framework should endorse equitable partnership, support locally-led analysis and produce findings that are useful for services, policymakers and communities at local, national and regional levels.
Participants noted that commonly used terms (e.g. for region-specific drug types, recovery, dependence, etc.) may be understood differently across countries. Developing a shared conceptual map would support clearer comparison, collaboration and programme design. This would also inform co-designed culturally appropriate resources that align with workface capacity building identified as a key emerging issue.
Key priority areas
Priority areas are: strengthening responses to methamphetamine use; developing regional early warning and monitoring capacity; expanding workforce development across prevention, treatment, measures to reduce potential harms, and recovery support; and building low-threshold, community-based and integrated care. These priorities reflect both the substances and harms most often raised and the system gaps that limit countries’ capacity to respond early and effectively.
Additional priorities include gender-responsive and youth-focused responses; culturally-appropriate and -adaptable prevention, treatment and intervention design; and evidence-informed policy reform and systems strengthening. Across all areas, participants emphasised the importance of equitable partnerships, local ownership, and approaches that are practical for diverse country and service contexts.
Recommendations:
While the region is not homogeneous, there was broad consensus on the following recommendations:
- Strengthen regional responses to methamphetamine use, including evidence-based treatment, brief intervention, measures to reduce potential harms, and shared clinical learning.
- Develop an early warning and monitoring framework for emerging drugs, online drug markets and related harms, that may be rolled out at the national and/or regional level.
- Use ISSUP infrastructure to expand culturally appropriate resources that improve workforce development through resources, accredited training, certification, and clinical practice. Develop a shared conceptual map of key terms that define treatment, prevention, recovery, early warning, workforce and evidence-based intervention.
- Share evidence on policy reform and systems strengthening, including interventions within the criminal justice system, voluntary treatment and integrated health and social responses.
- Use country reports to refine a practical regional workplan, including priority actions, lead partners, training needs, data priorities and funding opportunities.
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the ISSUP National Chapters in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, as well as representatives from Fiji and Vanuatu, for their valuable contributions to this report.
We also extend our appreciation to the representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) for sharing their expertise, insights, and perspectives.
We are grateful to ISSUP staff for reviewing the report and providing valuable feedback and support during its finalisation.
The contributions of all participants have been invaluable in informing the report’s findings and recommendations and identifying opportunities for strengthening regional collaboration.
