Kofi Annan exhorta a la Asamblea Mundial de la Salud a regular las drogas

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Kofi Annan exhorta a la Asamblea Mundial de la Salud a regular las drogas

10 junio 2015

Durante la 68ª edición de la Asamblea Mundial de la Salud, el ex-Secretario General de las Naciones Unidas, Kofi Annan, resaltó la necesidad de regular las drogas a fin de ofrecer una mejor protección de la salud. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

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This blog is written by Aram Barra, who attended the World Health Assembly in his capacity as Transform's Latin American Programme Officer.

Yesterday saw the 68th edition of the World Health Assembly, the supreme decision-making body of World Health Organisation, and the largest and most high-profile health-related event in the world. During the Assembly, Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General and member of the Global Commission on Drugs (GCDP) and West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD); Margaret Chan, General Director of the World Health Organization (WHO); Ruth Dreifuss, former president of Swtizerland; and the health ministers of Colombia, Mexico, Norway, Switzerland and Uruguay, all called for an open and honest debate on the road to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs to be held in April 2016, in New York City.

The event, which drew the attention of hundreds of public health professionals, medical networks, human rights experts and drug policy reform advocates, also included the UN Special Envoy on HIV, Michael Kazatchkine, and representatives of the health ministries of the Netherlands, Australia, Senegal, New Zealand, Albania and Guatemala.

Addressing all of them, Mr. Kofi Annan declared, “I believe that drugs have destroyed many lives, but wrong government policies have destroyed many more”. Drawing on the work of the GCDP and WACD (both of whom Transform has collaborated with), he urged country representatives to decriminalize drug use, saying:“punitive measures do not work and put lots of people in prison where their drug use may actually get worse.”

Going further, he noted: “We need to regulate drugs because they are risky. Drugs are infinitely more dangerous when produced and sold by criminals who do not worry about any safety measures. Legal regulation protects health. Consumers need to be aware of what they are taking and have clear information on health risks and how to minimize them.”

Click here to read the full article.

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