The
Joint Call to Action was chaired and moderated by Ambassador Ghislain D’Hoop of Belgium, Chair of the
CND at its
65th session, and featured statements by the Executive Director of
UNODC, Ms. Ghada Waly; the Director-General of
WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus; and the President of
INCB, Ms. Jagjit Pavadia. It was streamed from Twitter to a live audience tuning it from across the globe.
The three
international drug control conventions of 1961, 1971 and 1988 collectively enshrine the commitment by the international community to make adequate provision to ensure, and not to unduly restrict, the availability of narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances that are considered indispensable for medical and scientific purposes. Notwithstanding this, millions of people around the world continue to suffer due to lack of access to controlled medicines. This global crisis has been aggravated by recent developments, such as the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic, which has given rise to a global
emergency situation by exacerbating interruptions of the controlled medicines supply chain in various parts of the world. The
CND,
UNODC,
WHO and
INCB, therefore, deemed it timely to hold a
Joint Call to Action, calling for a global unified effort to build back better from the
COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure no patient is left behind.
In her statement, Ms. Ghada Waly, Executive Director of
UNODC, said that "access to controlled substances for medical and scientific purposes is a cornerstone of the three drug control conventions," and announced plans by the UNODC to address barriers to access in more countries.
The Director-General of
WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who was connected online, shared that in the wake of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO was working with low- and middle-income countries "to scale up the production of quality-assured medicines and ensure their equitable access". The President of
INCB, Ms. Jagjit Pavadia, touched on the importance of unimpeded access to controlled medicines in
emergency situations, such as humanitarian crises, and expressed that the INCB would continue to support governments in the application of simplified control measures in acute emergencies.
Ambassador Ghislain D’Hoop wrapped up the
Joint Call to Action by calling on national governments and the international community to make the choice today to honour the international drug policy commitments on improving
availability and access to controlled substances for medical and scientific purposes, so that people will not suffer and patients will not be left behind.
The
CND is the policymaking body of the United Nations with principal responsibility for drug-related matters, and a governing body of the
UNODC. The Commission is the forum for Member States to exchange knowledge and good practices in addressing and countering all aspects of the world drug problem, including
availability and access to controlled medicines.
