[Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/opioid-drugs-9-q2-what-current-state-op... ]
Dear HIFA colleagues:
I want to thank Neil for his comment about Uruguay and address the need to improve country-level information on the opioid use problem and its consequences.
Regarding Uruguay, the data was obtained from the VIII National Survey on Drug Use in the General Population, and can be accessed at the following website: https://www.gub.uy/junta-nacional-drogas/comunicacion/publicaciones/viii... . Unfortunately, it is only available in Spanish.
Neil commented that Uruguay has a similar prevalence of heroin use to the United Kingdom. It caught my attention, as I didn´t expect that.
As I mentioned, apparently, the main problem with opioids in my country is the diversion of medications intended for medical use. However, this seems to be difficult to track, and therefore it was not included in the 2024 report of the National Drug Board.
In any case, I found a 2019 study, supported by the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), that aimed to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the legal opioid market to categorize the risks of the various legal actors involved. It also included a survey of potential opioid diversion and abuse. https://www.gub.uy/ministerio-salud-publica/comunicacion/publicaciones/o...
Uruguay does not have its own production of active ingredients or cultivation of opiates. This would allow for an analysis of the importation of raw materials belonging to this pharmacological group, selecting the main actors in the national market to characterize the local production market.
Our country has several advantages for efficiently controlling and overseeing controlled substances: a National Competent Authority (NCA) with a strong presence in foreign trade control, a tradition of collaboration with the private sector, and a small market with low domestic production of controlled substances. It also has robust regulations that establish high-level safety requirements.
In any case, it would be interesting to learn about the experiences of other countries and what suggestions they offer for addressing the problem of the diversion of legal opioids, as well as for preventing the consumption of other opioids.
Kind regards,
Eduardo
Eduardo Bianco, MD, MSc, BIR
ATHP Director
Addiction Training for Health Professionals
Email: ebianco@nextgenu.org
HIFA profile: Eduardo Bianco is a medical doctor and Cardiologist, Certified Tobacco Cessation Expert with a Master's in Prevention and Treatment of Addictive Disorders. Bianco also has a degree in International Relations. Currently, he is Director of International Policy Education in Addictions of the Frank Foundation for International Health and Member of the Interim Policy Committee of the Global Alliance for Tobacco Control (GATC). He had a prominent role in promoting smoking cessation, tobacco control, WHO-FCTC implementation and NCD control in his country (Uruguay) as well as in Latin America for over 25 years. Bianco participated directly in most of the development process of the WHO-Framework Convention on Tobacco control and in the Sessions of the Conference of the Parties to this treaty. He was Director or Tobacco Control Program of InterAmerican Heart Foundation, Regional Coordinator for the Americas of the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA), Chair of the Tobacco Expert Group of the World Heart Federation and Technical Director of the MOH Center for International Cooperation for Tobacco as well as Founder and Former President of the Tobacco Epidemic Research Center (CIET) in Uruguay. Eduardo helps coordinate the HIFA working group on substance use disorders. https://www.hifa.org/support/members/eduardo https://www.hifa.org/projects/mental-health-meeting-information-needs-su...