28/06/2024
Drug use disorders are multifactorial in nature and often follow the course of a relapsing and remitting chronic disease that requires a continuum of care. Scientific evidence dencebased drug treatment has been shown to be cost effective and to result in improved health outcomes for both those suffering from drug use disorders and those around them.
In recent years, at least 6 million people a year have received drug related treatment worldwide. Data on their social status and pathway to treatment are limited, but the information provided by the few countries that have reported data can provide some initial evidence to support international discussions
on the process of recovery and social reintegration.
There appear to be some similarities in the socioeco-nomic characteristics of people in drug treatment across regions. For example, the proportion of people in drug treatment who do not have access to stable housing (including persons experiencing homelessness) is very similar across subregions and is estimated at about 10 per cent. The level of education of people in drug treat- ment also tends to be lower than that of the general population in most subregions. But other characteristics vary across regions. In Europe, women in drug related treatment tend to have a higher level of education than their male counterparts, while
there is no observable difference in other regions with available data. In Asia, people undergoing drug treatment are more likely to be employed compared with other
regions, while the opposite is true in most subregions of Africa. Only Western and Central Europe and South America report sizeable proportions of people in drug
treatment who are economically inactive, mostly receiving some type of social security system benefits. The pathways that people take to drug treatment also vary across regions and subregions and, to some extent,
by gender. In Africa, referral by friends and family and self referral were the most common ways people entered treatment, while in Asia most people entered treatment through contact with the criminal justice system.