Home > UNAIDS calls for action against the criminalization of people who use drugs and for community-led harm reduction programmes.

[UNAIDS] UNAIDS calls for action against the criminalization of people who use drugs and for community-led harm reduction programmes. (01 Nov 2021)

External website: https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pr...


On International Drug Users’ Day, UNAIDS is calling for urgent action against the criminalization of people who use drugs, for the redress of criminalization’s negative effects on HIV, viral hepatitis and other health issues, for the respect of human rights and for more funding for community-led harm reduction programmes.

People who use and inject drugs are among the groups at highest risk of acquiring HIV but remain marginalized and often blocked from accessing health and social services. In 2020, 9% of all new HIV infections were among people who inject drugs. Outside of sub-Saharan Africa this rises to 20%. Although women represent less than 30% of the number of people who use drugs, women who use drugs are more likely to be living with HIV than their male counterparts.

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