243mn individuals use illicit drugs in 2013
Drug use prevalence is stable around the world, according to the 2014 World Drug Report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with around 243 million individuals, or 5 per cent of the world's population aged 15-64 having used illicit d
Problem drug users meanwhile numbered about 27 million, roughly 0.6 per cent of the world’s adult population, or 1 in every 200 people.
Launching the report in locations including Vienna, Bangkok and Yangon today, UNODC appealed for a stronger focus on the health and human rights of all drug users, but particularly for those who inject drugs.
“There remain serious gaps in service provision. In recent years only one in six drug users globally has had access to or received drug dependence treatment services each year,” said Yury Fedotov, UNODC Executive Director, stressing that some 200,000 drug-related deaths had occurred in 2012.
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