The lack of harm reduction services is accelerating one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics, underscoring urgent needs for sterile drug use equipment, community-led outreach, and an evidence-based national response.
The joint letter warns that expanding involuntary treatment in British Columbia would violate medical ethics, endanger patients, and deepen human rights harm, calling instead for evidence-based, voluntary, community-led care.
Gunaratne et al. reveal high levels of non-fatal overdose, identifying structural, behavioural, and health-related factors that call for urgent expansion of harm reduction, mental health support, and overdose prevention.
WHO underscores opioid agonist maintenance treatment (OAMT) as an essential, lifesaving health service, providing practical strategies to prevent and manage disruptions, safeguard access to methadone and buprenorphine, and ensure continuity of care during crises and instability.
Indonesia’s drug policy is under review as civil society pushes for health- and rights-based reforms, including legal changes, better treatment access, gender-sensitive harm reduction, and respectful kratom regulation rooted in indigenous knowledge.
For the first time, a UN human rights body urges Canada to expand safe supply and end coercive drug treatment. The CRPD committee calls for voluntary, community-based care that respects autonomy and legal capacity in mental health and addiction.
The SPT outlines its recent activities, warns that punitive drug policies contribute to torture and ill-treatment, and urges evidence-based voluntary treatment, harm reduction, and oversight.
The executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance explains how US funding cuts will affect addiction treatment, overdose prevention, and other harm reduction services.
IDPC, HRI, and Youth RISE highlight how drug policies exacerbate poverty through exclusion from housing, social benefits, education, and employment, reinforcing stigma and discrimination.
Jallal Toufiq underscored the need to overcome disparities in access to controlled medicines and treatment services, prioritising health and alternatives to punishment.
