World Health Organization

News12 February 2026

‘Coca leaf is life itself’: Andean growers’ hopes fade as WHO upholds global curb

The WHO has upheld the coca leaf’s severe international scheduling, maintaining restrictions despite evidence of its safety and longstanding Indigenous use.

News15 January 2026

The WHO says coca leaf isn’t very harmful—so why keep it on the hard drug list?

Despite its medicinal and cultural value, the coca leaf will remain a Schedule I drug, continuing the colonial legacy of prohibition.

News8 December 2025

A critical failure of a system still mired in the past - IDPC joint statement at the CND Reconvened 68th Session

By ignoring Indigenous knowledge and human rights impacts, the coca leaf review reveals a system unable —or unwilling— to shed colonial bias.

News28 October 2025

The coca paradox: to regulate or eradicate?

Bolivia regulates via community limits respecting indigenous heritage, while Peru enforces forced eradication - as the WHO reconsiders coca's status, the stakes for farmers are higher than ever.

IDPC in the Media14 October 2025

Open letter to the WHO calls for leadership on harm reduction

Thumb: Talking Drugs

Publications14 October 2025

Statement by traditional coca leaf producers and consumers to the World Health Organization

Traditional coca leaf producers and consumers from Peru reject their government’s stance before the WHO, urging the organisation to deschedule coca, recognise its cultural and medicinal uses, and support research and rights-based policies

Publications8 October 2025

Opioid agonist maintenance treatment as an essential health service: Implementation guidance on mitigating disruption of services for treatment of opioid dependence

WHO underscores opioid agonist maintenance treatment (OAMT) as an essential, lifesaving health service, providing practical strategies to prevent and manage disruptions, safeguard access to methadone and buprenorphine, and ensure continuity of care during crises and instability.

Publications23 September 2025

Coca leaf - Critical review report

The WHO ECDD reviews the coca leaf’s chemistry, pharmacology, and uses, noting potential therapeutic effects, low toxicity, and weak evidence of dependence potential.

News5 September 2025

Urgent call for continued WHO leadership on harm reduction for people who use drugs – Open letter to the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Civil society urges WHO to sustain leadership on harm reduction, resist funding cuts, and ensure meaningful community involvement.

Events

48th meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD)

Online

20 October 2025 - 22 October 2025

The WHO's ECDD meeting will assess the critical reviews of a handful of substances, including the coca leaf, guiding future international scheduling decisions, with major implications for Indigenous rights.

Blog7 August 2025

A historic opportunity: Why the global liberation of the coca leaf matters on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, IDPC's Ann Fordham highlights how the international drug control regime harms Indigenous communities, and how the WHO’s coca leaf review offers a chance to right a longstanding injustice.

Publications18 July 2025

Sustaining priority services for HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections in a changing funding landscape

The WHO outlines how to keep HIV, hepatitis, and STI programs alive amid shrinking budgets.

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