Pillar IV - Drug Prevention & Health

The fourth pillar of the Vienna Declaration, dedicated to reducing drug abuse and dependence through a comprehensive approach, aims to ensure effective measures based on scientific evidence, including prevention, education, treatment, care and related support services, rehabilitation and social integration aimed at promoting health and social well-being among individuals, families and communities, all of which is essential to decrease both abuse of drugs including opiates as well as the number of drug addicts.

 

 

 

 

Reducing drug abuse and dependence through a comprehensive approach

Drug demand reduction policy is aimed at ensuring effective measures based on scientific evidence, including prevention, education, treatment, care and related support services, rehabilitation and social reintegration aimed at promoting health and social well-being among individuals, families and communities. Such measures remain essential to decreasing both the abuse of drugs including opiates, as well as the number of drug addicts. To this end and keeping in mind that the health and welfare of humankind are of utmost concern within the international drug control system, it is necessary to intensify cooperation in the following areas and ways*:

  1. Ensuring that drug demand reduction policies are balanced and comprehensive and in full compliance with the three international drug control conventions, as well as fundamental human rights and freedoms, and based on scientific evidence;

  2. Stressing an effective, balanced and comprehensive approach to reducing demand for and supply of illicit drugs;

  3. Promoting short-term, mid-term and long-term planning and implementation of drug demand reduction programmes and measures, including those aimed at reducing the spread of blood borne diseases in particular HIV/AIDS;

  4. Promoting collaboration among governments and civil society including non-governmental organizations and the private sector on drug demand reduction measures;

  5. Engaging civil society and mass media, including to discourage the abuse of opiates;

  6. Elaborating targeted drug addiction prevention, treatment, care, rehabilitation and reintegration programmes on this basis in families and households, schools and other educational institutions, health and social service settings, workplaces, in prisons, including through the use of media, including for groups most at risk;

  7. Improving specialized training systems for drug treatment professionals with regard to the abuse of opiates in all Paris Pact partners, particularly the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

*as defined in the Vienna Declaration