Hi, as opposed to North America where their earlier opioid crisis was driven by unethical marketing and overprescription of opioids for minor pain management, the mechanism misuse of opioids in other regions is quite different. In countries in West Africa for instance the misuse is driven by unregulated health care system, and misuse of tramadol, which in most instances is meant for misuse and trafficked into the countries (higher dosage of 250 mg or so than the approved max dosage of 100 mg in a tablet).
In the other low and middle income countries this is again driven by illicit supply of heroin and not well regulated healthcare outlets and ‘pharmacies’.
Regards
Kamran
Kamran Niaz
Epidemiologist
Research and Knowledge Production Section
Research and Trend Analysis Branch
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
P O Box 500, 1400 Vienna
Tel: +43 1 26060 5624
Mobile: +43 699 1459 5624
World Drug Report 2025