The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is leading a coordinated global response to improve the access to
and availability of controlled drugs for medical purposes. The aim is to increase the number of patients receiving appropriate
treatment for conditions requiring the use of that specific medication, while controlling the abuse and diversion of those
substances.
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC) call on governments to ensure that the procurement and supply of controlled medicines in countries
meet the needs of patients, both those who have COVID-19 and those who require internationally controlled medicines for other
medical conditions.
Healthcare professionals and Ministries of Health in focus countries are the direct beneficiaries
of the Global Programme. UNODC, the WHO, UICC and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) provide recommendations
and tools to help healthcare personnel in improving accessibility and availability and at the same time preventing diversion
and abuse.
Policy-makers are vital in ensuring the availability and access to controlled medications as they design, oversee implementation
and monitor policies and regulations. With policy-makers involvement, countries can overcome barriers to the accessibility
and availability of controlled drugs. UNODC, WHO, UICC and INCB have additional information to facilitate the work of policy-maker.
This section is designed to provide the public and individuals with general and basic information about the Joint Global
Programme and highlights the content of the Discussion Paper and the Reports issued by UNODC, WHO, UICC and the INCB.
The United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime works actively on the Joint Global Programme, GLOK67. In this section, we
describe our work, recommendations for Member states and next steps, together with the publications on this matter.
The Joint Global Programme, GLOK67 is one of the programmes in which the Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Section
of the Drugs and Health Branch within UNODC currently works on. In this webpage you can access publications issued by the
UNODC in regard to the accessibility and availability of controlled drugs.
