A comprehensive approach to addiction medicine as an appropriate response to the HIV epidemic among drug users

Gilberto Gerra ^a, Lorenzo Somaini ^b

a Drug Prevention and Health Branch, Division for Operation, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,
P.O. Box 500, 1400 Vienna, Austria
b Addiction Treatment Centre, Local health Unit, Via P. Maffei, 59, 13836 Cossato, Biella, Italy

The services for drug-dependence treatment and care, particularly in low-income countries,should not be fragmented and uncoordinated. A basic package of interventions should be provided in the same place and managed by the same team, with a one-stopshop approach. The services for substance use disorders should be appealing, accessible, voluntary-based, and science-based. They should also, like efforts to fight other diseases, be included in the community and the public health systems; that is, those who are affected by drug use and those who serve them should not face discrimination. The firstline assistance and the second-line essential elements of the comprehensive package are described in this article. The work of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to promote science-based and voluntary-based ethical treatment in Asia is also illustrated.

Keywords: Addiction medicine, Drug dependence, HIV