Dear all,
Please see the message below, which I post on behalf of The Executive
Director of UNODC, Mr. Antonio Maria Costa, and this message was sent to all
the regional federations of the world federation of therapeutic communities.
Full details can be found within the text below,
Sincere regards,
Anthony Slater.
-----Original Message-----
From: Anja BUSSE [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 1. november 2006 12:43
To: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask];
[log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Cc: [log in to unmask]; Stefano BERTERAME; Elizabeth SAENZ-MIRANDA
Subject: Fw: Message to Treatment Providers in your region
Importance: High
Dear regional representatives of the WFTC,
The Executive Director of UNODC, Mr. Antonio Maria Costa, plans to send a
message to all Therapeutic Communities / Treatment Centres in your region,
to express his concern regarding the risk of increased inflow of Afghan
heroin related with the increase in production.
I am writing to you to help us to identify
mailing lists
professional associations
treatment provider associations
national/regional platforms
etc.
in your region, to reach as many service providers as possible in a
coordinated way.
Please respond to this message at your earliest convenience.
I have attached the press release that is already published on the UNODC
website for your kind information.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Kind regards,
Anja Busse (Ms)
Associate Expert, Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Unit
Global Challenges Section
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Room D 1431
P.O. Box 500
A1400 Vienna
Austria
Tel : (+43 1) 26060 4389
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
www.unodc.org/treatnet
____________________________________________________
Heroin overdoses could increase significantly due to higher Afghan opium
crop, UN drugs chief warns
VIENNA, 5 October (UNODC) - The world's health authorities should prepare
for a significant increase in the number of deaths from heroin overdoses
following a dramatic surge in opium production in Afghanistan this year,
the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,
Antonio Maria Costa, warned.
In a letter sent to nearly 90 health ministers this week, he said past
experience showed that a sharp rise in the supply of heroin tended to lead
to an increase in the purity of the end product rather than lower street
prices.
"The abundant supply of Afghan heroin is likely to result in dramatic
increases in the purity of street heroin," Mr Costa said. "This, in turn,
is likely to prompt a substantial increase in the number of deaths by
overdose as addicts are not used to injecting doses containing such high
concentrations of the drug."
UNODC's 2006 Afghan Opium Survey, published last month, showed that illicit
opium production in Afghanistan was a record 6,100 tons this year, an
increase of 49 per cent on 2005. Afghanistan accounts for 92 per cent of
total world supply of opium.
Warning that the increase represented a very severe health threat, Mr Costa
said: "I therefore strongly encourage you, the local health authorities and
the community drug treatment centres in your country to take every possible
measure in the period ahead and to alert practitioners to the possible risk
increase."
For further information, please contact:
Richard Murphy
UNODC Spokesman
Tel +43 1 26060 5761
Mobile +43 699 1459 5761
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
