'Millions' in developing nations in need of drug addiction help

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by Change | 9 Mar 2010

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The developing world contains millions of people in need of drug addiction support, a leading UN official has said.

Millions of people in need of drug addiction support in the developing world are not receiving the help they require.

This is the stark warning from Antonio Maria Costa, the UN's office on drugs and crime senior director, who said in a meeting in Vienna yesterday (March 9th) that developing nations lack both drug addiction facilities and the law enforcement required to stop drug dealers.

"Poor addicts - and there are millions of them - have been pushed to the margins of society, deprived of medical attention, often exposed to conditions including imprisonment, that exacerbate their illness," the Associated Press reported Mr Costa as saying.

He went on to say that his team is working alongside the World Health Organization in an attempt to offer universal access to drug addiction therapy.

Mr Costa also called on governments in developed countries to improve access to medicines for poorer nations.

He referred to drug addiction as a treatable condition but that inequality - both between countries and within them - is resulting in large numbers of individuals not receiving the drug addiction intervention they require.

Mr Costa has been in his position since 2002. In 2006 he criticised Britain's decision to downgrade cannabis from a Class C drug to a Class B, although it returned to a Class B in January last year.

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