"Around ten percent of all new HIV

"Around ten percent of all new HIV infections worldwide are due to injecting drug use. But in some regions it's now the main route of HIV transmission - accounting for over 80 per cent of all HIV cases." Christian Kroll, UNODC Global Coordinator for HIV/AIDS, speaks about HIV and injecting drug use. (Duration: 5:20) [listen]

UNODC assist countries to provide people who inject drugs, prisoners and people vulnerable to human trafficking with evidence -informed, comprehensive HIV prevention treatment and care services through:

• Advocacy
• Support in developing effective legislation and policies
• Support in developing comprehensive evidence based interventions and programmes
• Building capacity of national stakeholders including government agencies, civil society and community organizations to ensure optimum coverage to these population groups with HIV services

One of the most important lessons learned from over two decades of work on HIV and AIDS is that prevention and care interventions need to be comprehensive and multisectoral to address the needs of often very diverse vulnerable populations. Prevention, treatment and care have to go hand-in-hand and in large-scale initiatives, as the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, which was adopted by the General Assembly in 2006 (resolution 60/262), sets the example.

In order to reverse the trends of existing HIV and AIDS epidemics and to prevent a new wave of epidemics, interventions must be comprehensive, based on evidence and scaled-up immediately. The comprehensive package of interventions are endorsed by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the UNAIDS Programme Coordination Board, and the Economic and Social Council.

Working hand in hand

The HIV/AIDS work of UNODC is done in partnership with all UNAIDS co-sponsors and key partners, including civil society organizations and organizations of people living with HIV/AIDS.

The Office also works with UN Theme Groups on HIV/AIDS, and specific national technical working groups on areas in which UNODC has a lead role within the broad framework of the UN Implementation Support Plans. For such working groups, UNODC advocates including all stakeholders, such as health, law enforcement and criminal justice sectors, as well as non-governmental organizations and people living with or affected by AIDS.