The US State Department has begun to exert pressure on the UN office on drugs and crime to retract its stated support for public health measures such as needle exchange. Following a meeting with US State Department narcotics head Robert Charles last November, UNODC executive director Antonio Costa wrote to Charles promising to "review all statements ... and will be even more vigilant in the future," and stating that "we neither endorse needle exchange as a solution for drug abuse, nor support public statements advocating such practices." The US is by far the biggest donor to the UNODC.
Disturbingly, this tactic of applying pressure to national governments and international agencies to pursue policies preferred by US conservatives does not seem to be limited to drug policy. Similar moves are apparent in reproductive health and prostitution. The common denominator is the strong advocacy of a morality-driven policy in the face of evidence of what works best in protecting public health.
The international community meets in Vienna this week to review progress in reducing global drug problems. The issue of how to tackle drug-related HIV infection is scheduled to be a major theme. The exchanges will take place with almost no media or parliamentary scrutiny, but the positions agreed will affect the lives of millions of people, and the scale and course of the HIV pandemic in years to come. If the outcome is a retrenchment from the progress made in recent years by UN agencies, this would represent a victory of moralism and financial muscle over evidence and tolerance. Given the huge financial and human cost of increased HIV infection, we all have much to lose this week.
Mike Trace chairs the International Drug Policy Consortium; Ruth Runciman chairs the UK's National AIDS Trust -- www.internationaldrugpolicy.net.
COPYRIGHT: GUARDIAN NEWSPAPERS LIMITED 2005
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