[e-drug] WHO 34th Expert Committee on Drug Dependence

["Willem Scholten" <scholtenw@who.int>]

E-DRUG: WHO 34th Expert Committee on Drug Dependence
----------------------------------------------------

Dear Sir/Madam,
 
The report of the Thirty-fourth Expert Committee on Drug Dependence, (28 to
31 March 2006) is available on our website:
http://www.who.int/entity/medicines/areas/quality_safety/WHO_TRS_942.pdf
(please make sure that everything is on one line, before you click it, or if
wrapped over more than one line, transfer the parts by copying them to your
browser)

The present version is in English, but we expect French, Spanish, Russian
and Chinese versions soon. 
 
Furthermore, I want to draw your attention for our webpages on substance
abuse and access to controlled medications which were renewed recently. They
can be found on: 
http://www.who.int/medicines/areas/quality_safety/sub_Int_control/en/index.h
tml
Here you can also find all former reports of the ECDD back to 1949.
 
Some highlights from the report:
In its 34th meeting the Expert Committee discussed several issues that are
of outstanding interest for public health and for this reason I would like
to recommend this report to you.  Of particular interest are the paragraphs
that deal with the issues of access to controlled medicines for legitimate
medical use, including opioids for the treatment of severe pain.
 
For instance, in paragraph 6.4, Impact of international control on medical
availability of substances, the Committee points out that drug control can
create barriers for legitimate medical use, including barriers inadvertently
created by the application of national laws and regulations.  In some
countries stricter measures are applied than required by the Conventions.
Therefore, the Committee recommends that the appropriate national
authorities should carefully consider whether any such measure could be
modified to improve access for patients in need. 
 
With regard to the use of buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid
dependence, the Committee confirmed in paragraph 2.2.1, that this treatment
is very important for the efficacious and cost-effective prevention and
treatment of HIV and AIDS.  Therefore, this treatment is beneficial for both the
health of opioid-dependent patients, and for reducing transmission of
HIV among the general population.
 
 
We should like to use this opportunity to express our thanks to the members
of the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence for all the work they did before,
during and after the meeting. We also wish to thank the National Institute
on Drug Dependence, Peking University, Beijing, China, for its efforts to
publish a version in Chinese and the Fundacion de Lima Bohmer, Bogotá,
Colombia, for financing the Spanish version of this report.
 
I hope you will find this Expert Committee report both interesting and
useful.  
 
With kind regards,
Willem Scholten 
 
Willem Scholten, PharmD., MPA 
technical officer
World Health Organization 
Quality Assurance and Safety: Medicines 
Department of Medicines Policy and Standards 
20, Avenue Appia 
1211 Geneva 27 
Switzerland 
Tel +41 22 79 15540 
Mobile +41 7 9449 5759 
Fax +41 22 79 14761 
e-mail: scholtenw@who.int