Drug Demand Reduction and HIV/AIDS

The available information on drug use in Pakistan is outdated and is of questionable accuracy.  It is suspected that the actual rates of drug use are much higher than currently estimated, given the high levels of drug trafficking through the region and the inability of past surveys and assessments to reach hidden populations.  Pakistan is categorised as a 'concentrated HIV epidemic' country among injecting drug users.  Currently, drug demand reduction and related HIV activities lack the structural framework through which services can be efficiently offered, organised, delivered and funded. This has led to a situation where interventions have been carried out in an ad hoc manner with little continuity or coordination.

Programme Deliverables
UNODC's Sub-programme 3 builds the Government's capacity to plan, resource and implement drug use prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and comprehensive harm reduction services. To create a platform for action, UNODC will support drug use data collection systems, including through a national drug use survey.

To increase the availability of treatment services in a sustainable manner, this sub-programme will mainstream drug treatment knowledge through the existing public health system, for example by disseminating basic training modules into health institutes' curricula. The extension of services to vulnerable groups such as injecting drug users, prisoners and women will also be accelerated, as part of UNODC's contribution to global initiatives that are expanding in Pakistan.

In the field of drug use prevention, this sub-programme will repeat this approach of mainstreaming and cascading foundational knowledge. Mechanisms for doing so exist: the education system and community-level prevention organisations. Relatively minor resources are required to take advantage of these opportunities. By disseminating basic training through teacher training institutes and advice to the national and provincial governments on guiding community-level interventions, this sub-programme will help ensure the next generation suffers less costs from drug use than the present one.

Based on analysis of drug demand reduction and HIV/AIDS in Pakistan, Sub-programme 3 will contribute to three  outcomes through the delivery of eight key outputs.