nearly 20 percent of the world’s opiate abusers reside in West Asia, as increasing production of opium in Afghanistan has resulted in greater abuse of opium and heroin, primarily in that country and in neighbouring countries located along the recently-expanding trafficking routes.
“For example, the annual prevalence of opiate abuse among adult Pakistanis aged 15-64 years has grown from 0.7 percent in 2006 to 1.0 percent in 2013, concurrent with increases in trafficking of opiates via Pakistan. In addition to Pakistan, UNODC estimates the current annual prevalence of opiate abuse among adults to be highest in Afghanistan (2.3-3 percent), Azerbaijan (1.3-1.7 percent) and the Islamic Republic of Iran (2.3 percent).”
It added that the spread of disease through unsafe injecting practices, such as the sharing of used injecting equipment, continues to be a significant problem in several countries in West Asia.
“The prevalence rates for opiate abuse by injection among the general population in Afghanistan, Iran (Islamic Republic of) and Pakistan are among the highest in the world, estimated to be 1.5 percent of the adult population in those three countries,” the report said.
It added, “Countries with a high prevalence of opiate abuse tend to have an elevated prevalence of people who inject drugs and are also living with HIV. For example, 28.8 percent of people who inject drugs in South-West Asia were estimated to be HIV-positive, more than double the global prevalence among people who inject drugs, which was estimated to be 13.1 percent in 2012. The prevalence rate for South-West Asia largely reflects the high prevalence of HIV-positive people among people who inject drugs in Pakistan, estimated to be 37 percent.”
According to the report, trafficking of heroin to the European Union along the so-called “southern route” is increasing, with heroin trafficked south from Afghanistan, via the Near and Middle East and Africa, as well as directly from Pakistan. Belgium and the Netherlands, the report said, continue to be used for the transit of opiates trafficked along both the Balkan and southern routes. For example, opiates from Afghanistan arrive in the United Kingdom, mostly from Pakistan, but also via Belgium (where seizures of heroin increased sharply in 2013) and the Netherlands. All of the heroin trafficked by passenger aircraft to Belgium in 2013 arrived from East Africa.
Lochan Naidoo, President International Narcotics Control Board, said in the report that in tackling the world drug problem, all countries face shared challenges and have a common purpose in promoting the health and welfare of their peoples and, together, of humankind. To this end, he added, the international community will continue to count on the drug control treaties, international instruments that have withstood the test of time and remain relevant to addressing future challenges. All that is required is the continued commitment of all States to act in concert in the effective implementation of those instruments.