Page 95 - Human Rights

Faculty of Nursing
Adult care Nursing Department

5 Strengthen legislative measures;

6 Mobilize professional associations through the decisive role of the physician.

Drug addiction is another public health issue of great concern.

The use of illicit drugs has been the target of numerous preventive policies aimed toward reducing
the impact of their excessive use, both physically and mentally.

These policies have been developed to be sustainable and include programs of action at the

international level.

Many countries attempted to fight drug abuse by setting clear policies for prevention, treatment,

and social reintegration.

It is necessary to define strategic lines of action with the purpose of reducing the consumption of

illicit drugs. Thus, the main objectives are:

1 The need to reverse or at least reduce the growing trend in drug demand;

2 Increase the proportion of young people who never or only sporadically used illicit substances;

3 Ensure access to substitution programs for all heroin addicts with therapeutic indications;

4 Ensure access to the network of specialized care for all drug addicts who seek treatment;

5 Strengthen harm reduction measures to prevent the spread of infectious dis eases and bring
drug addicts closer to healthcare structures.

Toward this end, some countries have implemented facilities with specialized professional support
(physicians, nurses, and psychosocial professionals) to minimize the impact of illicit drugs on the
health of the drug addict and the transmission of vectors associated with infectious diseases
(Belyakov and Salmon 2017).

However, the implementation of these drug consumption rooms (i.e., supervised injection
centers) has generated some concern for two reasons:

92 Academic Year 2025/2026