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UN / WORLD DRUG REPORT
STORY: UN / WORLD DRUG REPORT
TRT: 3:00
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 26 JUNE 2019, NEW YORK CITY
FILE
1. Exterior shot, UN Headquarters
26 JUNE 2019, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, meeting room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Miwa Kato, Director of Global Operations, UNODC:
“According to new estimates, some 35 million people in the world suffer from drug use disorders and require urgent services. Drug use has caused some 585 000 deaths in 2017. That’s more than half a million mostly young men and women.”
4. Close up, slides from report
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Miwa Kato, Director of Global Operations, UNODC:
“In 2017, north America saw the number of overdose deaths resulting from overuse of opioids rise some 14 percent. I am sure, I do not have to emphasize to the audience here the grave impact of this phenomenon to the whole society.”
6. Close up, slides from report
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Miwa Kato, Director of Global Operations, UNODC:
“What has been called the other opioid crisis is affecting Africa, especially west, central and north Africa. This is attributed to Tramadol, which has been used as a painkiller for decades and to this day remains outside the international control.”
8. Close up, slides from report
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Miwa Kato, Director of Global Operations, UNODC:
“Illicit drugs and its trade are the single largest source of the organized crime groups funding around the world and in many country’s context, the scale of funding is such that it has ability to negatively influence the development of whole society.”
10. Close up, slides from report
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Miwa Kato, Director of Global Operations, UNODC:
“harmful impact of illicit drugs and other associated criminality is a common concern to all of us, not only because it creates tremendous human suffering to the individuals and their families and communities but also because it arrests healthy and sustainable development and causes instability and security challenges, bringing people’s lives into a chain of misery.”
12. Close up, slides from report
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Miwa Kato, Director of Global Operations, UNODC:
“Coordination amongst the national, regional and international institutions should aim to further strengthen law enforcement capacities in order to effectively dismantle drug trafficking organizations and transnational organized criminal groups. Joint responses are also crucial to address linkages between terrorist and criminal networks and to counter terrorist groups engaging directly, or benefiting indirectly from criminal activities, including drug trafficking.”
14. Wide shot, meeting room
Drug use has caused some 585,000 deaths in 2017, while 35 million people in the world suffer from drug use disorders and require urgent services, according to a new United Nations (UN) report published Wednesday.
The study from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), also shows that the negative health consequences associated with drugs are more severe and widespread than previously thought, with around 35 million people suffering from drug use disorders and requiring treatment services.
Some 11 million people injected drugs in 2017, 1.4 million of whom are living with HIV, and 5.6 million with hepatitis C. UNODC explains the significantly higher figures are due in part to improved research and more precise data, including more knowledge of the extent of drug use from new surveys conducted in India and Nigeria, two of the most populous countries in the world.
“In 2017, north America saw the number of overdose deaths resulting from overuse of opioids rise some 14 percent,” said Miwa Kato, UNODC’s Director of Global Operations while presenting the report in New York on Wednesday (26 Jun). “I am sure, I do not have to emphasize to the audience here the grave impact of this phenomenon to the whole society,” she added.
Whilst the overall figure for drug use in 2017, an estimated 271 million people, was similar to the previous year, the trend is rising, and the number of people using drugs is now some 30 per cent higher than it was ten years ago.
This is partly attributed to a 10 per cent increase in the global population aged 15-64, but also increased opioid use in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, as well as higher cannabis consumption in North and South America, and Asia. Opiods are the class of illegal drugs derived from heroin – opium poppies – including synthetics such as fentanyl, and other prescription medications such as Oxycontin and Vicodin.
SOUNDBITE (English) Miwa Kato, Director of Global Operations, UNODC:
“What has been called the other opioid crisis is affecting Africa, especially west, central and north Africa. This is attributed to Tramadol, which has been used as a painkiller for decades and to this day remains outside the international control.”
The manufacture of cocaine – chiefly from South America - reached an all-time high in 2017, with an estimated production of 2,000 tons in 2017, up by a quarter on the previous year. At the same time, seizures of cocaine rose 13 per cent to 1,275 tons, another record figure.
“Coordination amongst the national, regional and international institutions should aim to further strengthen law enforcement capacities in order to effectively dismantle drug trafficking organizations and transnational organized criminal groups” said Kato. “Joint responses are also crucial to address linkages between terrorist and criminal networks and to counter terrorist groups engaging directly, or benefiting indirectly from criminal activities, including drug trafficking,” Kato added.
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