329 NGOs call on world leaders to address the global health and human rights crisis among people who use drugs
Even more concerning is the fact that people who use drugs often remain a ‘population under attack’.
Worldwide, one in five people is incarcerated for a drug offence, the overwhelming majority for simple possession. Hundreds of thousands of people who use drugs are held in compulsory detention centres where they are denied healthcare and are victims of humiliations, physical and mental abuse and forced labour. At least 10 countries subject people who use drugs to corporal punishment including caning, whipping, lashing, stoning and even bodily mutilation – in some cases, even on children. In most regions of the world, people who use drugs are also victims of institutionalised violence, stigma and discrimination … Securing an improved health response for people who use drugs also requires strong political leadership at the national level … Specific recommendations for more effective and humane national drug policies, including:
• The provision, scale up and funding for harm reduction interventions
• The decriminalisation of drug use and possession for personal use, as well as proportionate sentencing for all drug offences
• Ending stigma and discrimination against people who use drugs
• The inclusion, support and funding for, and empower of, communities and civil society organisations – including organisations and networks of people who use drugs.
Original Article (IDPC):
329 NGOs call on world leaders to address the global health and human rights crisis among people who use drugs on the occasion of the 26th International Harm Reduction Conference
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