Young people across the world are urging governments to shield them from predatory tobacco marketing tactics. The industry targets youth for a lifetime of profits, creating a new wave of addiction. The latest data show that children are using e-cigarettes at rates higher than adults in many countrie...s and globally an estimated 37 million youth aged 13–15 years use tobacco.
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This integrated operational framework provides an overview of the connections between mental health, neurological and substance use (MNS) conditions, and their links to health, well-being and the broader public health and sustainable development agenda. The need for integrated approaches is increasi...ngly recognized as critical to address the complex interactions between mental health, brain health, substance use, and physical health, particularly in light of global threats such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The framework also provides a series of actions for governments and health service planners and advisors to achieve integration across four domains: leadership and governance; care services; promotion and prevention; and health information systems, evidence generation and research.
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The Global status report on alcohol and health and treatment of substance use disorders presents a comprehensive overview of alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harm and policy responses as well as treatment capacities for alcohol and drug use disorders worldwide. The report is based on data collec...ted by WHO from Member States and organized in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals health target 3.5 which calls on countries to strengthen “the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol”. The chapter on alcohol and health continues the series of WHO global status reports on alcohol and health and presents the latest available data on the status of, and trends in, alcohol consumption, as well as estimates of the alcohol-attributable disease burden and descriptions of policy responses worldwide. On the basis of data collected from countries on the treatment of substance use disorders the report describes the status of key components of treatment responses to alcohol and drug use disorders and proposes a new service capacity index for these disorders as an additional contextual indicator for monitoring progress in this domain of SDG health target 3.5. The report concludes with broad directions for international action to accelerate progress towards achievement of SDG health target 3.5.
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Just under 2.5 million people die annually due to alcohol use. This global estimate, however, excludes most of the health burden
borne by others than the alcohol user. Alcohol’s harm to others includes a multitude of conditions, such as trauma from traffic crashes, fetal disorders due to prenatal... exposure to alcohol, as well as interpersonal and intimate partner violence. While alcohol’s causal role in these conditions is well-established, alcohol’s harm to others’ contribution to the overall health burden of alcohol remains unknown. This knowledge gap leads to a situation in which alcohol policy and prevention strategies largely focus on the reduction of alcohol’s detrimental health harms on the alcohol users, neglecting affected others and population groups most vulnerable to these harms, including women and children. In this article, we seek to elucidate why estimates for alcohol’s harm to others are lacking and offer guidance for future research. We also argue that a full assessment of the alcohol health burden that includes the harm caused by others’ alcohol use would enhance the visibility and public awareness of such harms, and advancing the evaluation of policy interventions to mitigate them.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) launched the SAFER initiative in 2018 to address the global health and societal challenges posed by alcohol-related harm. The initiative outlines five key strategies aimed at reducing alcohol consumption and its associated consequences. These include strengthening... restrictions on alcohol availability by implementing and enforcing policies to limit its accessibility and advancing drink-driving countermeasures, such as low blood alcohol concentration limits and random breath testing, to reduce alcohol-impaired driving incidents.
Additionally, SAFER emphasizes facilitating access to screening, brief interventions, and treatment for individuals with alcohol use disorders, ensuring that healthcare systems are equipped to provide effective support. Another core strategy is enforcing comprehensive bans or restrictions on alcohol advertising, sponsorship, and promotion to minimize its influence, particularly on vulnerable populations such as youth. Finally, the initiative advocates raising alcohol prices through excise taxes and pricing policies to make it less affordable and thereby reduce consumption.
By implementing these evidence-based, cost-effective measures, the SAFER initiative aims to reduce the global burden of alcohol-related deaths and disabilities, fostering healthier societies worldwide.
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The Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA) emphasizes the critical role of drug prevention in enhancing public health in Germany. Annually, the country faces significant premature mortality due to substance use: at least 110,000 deaths from smoking, 40,000 from harmful alcohol consumption, and a...pproximately 1,300 from illicit drug abuse.
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The OECD's "Alcohol Consumption" indicator measures the annual sales of pure alcohol in liters per person aged 15 and older. This metric helps assess long-term trends in alcohol consumption across countries. It's important to note that the methodology for converting alcoholic beverages to pure alcoh...ol may vary between nations. Additionally, official data typically do not account for tourist consumption or unrecorded alcohol intake, such as homemade or illegally produced alcohol. While this indicator provides insight into overall consumption patterns, it does not capture harmful drinking behaviors like heavy episodic drinking.
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Welcome to the Global Information System on Resources for the Prevention and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders. These pages present data collected from WHO Member States in broad categories: governance, policy and financing, service organization and delivery, human resources and national informat...ion systems. The latest data were collected in 2014 with the WHO Global Survey on Resources for Prevention and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders (ATLAS-SU survey). The global information system presents all available data to monitor the progress in advancing treatment coverage for substance use disorders (health target 3.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030)
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The Youth.gov webpage on "Substance Use/Misuse" provides information and resources about preventing and addressing substance abuse among youth. It highlights risk factors, prevention strategies, and support programs designed to reduce substance use and its negative impacts on young people. The site ...is part of a federal initiative to promote healthy and safe youth development.
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This short brief describes the main findings and the key lessons learned from the research project "Evaluation of the impact of alcohol control policies on morbidity and mortality in Lithuania and other Baltic states", funded by the United States National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism fo...r the period 2000–2025. The WHO-backed project aims to assess the effects of alcohol control policies implemented in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and to investigate the impact they have had on both people's health and the countries' economies, based on concrete actions taken. The key findings of the project demonstrate that alcohol control policies such as taxation and availability measures decrease all-cause mortality and reduce inequalities, and that dismantling alcohol control policies has the opposite effect on population health. They also highlight that consumption of unrecorded alcohol will not necessarily go up if taxation is increased and that specific countermeasures can be taken to prevent an increase in unrecorded consumption.
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The mhGAP guideline supports countries to strengthen capacity to deal with the growing burden of mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) conditions and narrow the treatment gap. This new edition includes 30 updated and 18 new recommendations, alongside 90 pre-existing recommendations. This is t...he third iteration of the guideline and reflects 15 years of investment in the mhGAP programme. The revised recommendations ensure that mhGAP continues to offer high-quality, timely, transparent, and evidence-based guidance to support non-specialist health workers in low-income and middle-income countries in providing treatment and care to individuals with MNS conditions.
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Pharmaceutical News
Evaluation of Saccharide Content of the WHO 2nd International Standard for Haemophilus Influenzae Polysaccharide Polyribosyl Ribitol Phosphate (PRP) by HPAECPAD Analysis Following Acid Hydrolysis
Consultation Documents
Lamivudine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate tablets (lami...vudini et tenofoviri disoproxili fumarati compressi)
Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate tablets (tenofoviri disoproxili fumarati compressi)
ATC/DDD Classification
Temporary
Final
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The World Health Organization's fact sheet on opioid overdose highlights the significant global health issue posed by opioids, which include natural, semi-synthetic, and synthetic compounds used primarily for pain management. Misuse and unsupervised use can lead to dependence and severe health probl...ems. In 2019, approximately 600,000 deaths were attributed to drug use, with nearly 80% related to opioids; about 25% of these were due to overdose. An opioid overdose is characterized by pinpoint pupils, unconsciousness, and breathing difficulties. The fact sheet emphasizes the importance of increasing access to naloxone, an opioid antagonist that can rapidly reverse overdose effects, and advocates for training individuals likely to witness an overdose in its administration. It also underscores the need for comprehensive strategies, including preventive measures, treatment for opioid dependence, and policies to reduce opioid availability.
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The ninth WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic tracks the progress made by countries in tobacco control since 2008 and, marks 15 years since the introduction of the MPOWER technical package which is designed to help countries implement the demand-reduction measures of the WHO Framework Conventi...on on Tobacco Control. The report shows that many countries continue to make progress in the fight against tobacco, but efforts must be accelerated to protect people from the harms of tobacco and second-hand smoke.
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Tobacco has negative implications for the environment, the economy and the health of both smokers and non-smokers. All people have a fundamental right to breathe clean air, and tobacco-free environments are essential to guaranteeing this right. This includes protection in outdoor spaces. Whether sit...ting in class, playing games outside or waiting at the school bus stop, young people should be protected from second-hand smoke and e-cigarette emissions.
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There is an expanding market of no- and low-alcohol beverages (NoLos). However, their effects on global ethanol consumption and public health are still questioned. Policies and regulations about NoLos’ availability, acceptability and affordability are lacking and evidence about their benefits is l...imited. Concerns have been raised about the impact of NoLos in reducing alcohol consumption and its associated harm and the possible drawbacks and implications, such as misleading minors, pregnant women, abstainers or those seeking to stop drinking about their actual ethanol content. Further, there are concerns about the implications of NoLo branded products being displayed close to the brand’s main alcoholic beverages and their potential to subtly lead to new occasions of drinking. There is a need to monitor their consumption and impact on aggregated alcohol consumption to understand the public health implications of NoLos. The alcohol by volume content of NoLos must be defined, harmonised and clearly labelled. NoLo marketing needs to be regulated to protect children, pregnant women and those seeking to stop drinking. Fiscal and pricing policies to reduce the affordability of products with higher strengths of ethanol may favour a shift towards lower alcohol strength beverages.
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The environment in which young people live, learn and play significantly affects their decisions about whether to consume alcohol. Environmental factors are the main risk factors driving alcohol consumption and related harm among young people. Environments that normalize alcohol consumption – term...ed alcogenic environments – include contexts with unregulated advertising and marketing of alcoholic beverages, higher alcohol outlet density, products designed to facilitate affordability and low prices of alcoholic beverages. A recent body of research evidence has emerged related to the measurement, functional significance and consequences of living in alcogenic environments. This includes findings on the complex and bidirectional interactions among alcohol acceptability, availability and affordability and how they create and perpetuate alcogenic environments. Comprehensive and enforced alcohol control policies are effective at delaying the age of onset and lowering alcohol prevalence and frequency among young people. Evidence consistently confirms the effectiveness of designing and implementing alcohol control policies that regulate upstream the drivers of alcogenic environment, including alcohol availability, acceptability and affordability. These policies need to be multipronged and address the complex interactions between these drivers and the local alcohol culture
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HIV, viral hepatitis and STI epidemics, particularly among people who inject drugs and other key populations, continue to be fuelled by laws and policies criminalizing sex work; drug use or possession; diverse forms of gender expression and sexuality; stigma and discrimination; gender discrimination...; violence; lack of community empowerment and other violations of human rights. These sociostructural factors limit access to health services, constrain how these services are
delivered and diminish their effectiveness.
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The Best practice portal is designed to help you find practical and reliable information on what works (and what doesn’t) in the areas of prevention, treatment, harm reduction and social reintegration. It will help you identify tried and tested interventions quickly, allocate resources to what's e...ffective, and improve interventions applying tools, standards and guidelines.
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Реабилитационный потенциал социально-психологического сопровождения семей с проблемами химической зависимости предлагается рассматривать как ресурс преодолен...ия аддикций Актуальность исследования обусловле- на необходимостью разработки базового подхода — научно-доказательно- го обоснования организации психологической помощи семье с проблемой алкогольной и/или наркотической зависимости
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