1. Quality Assurance Tools: Improving Coverage, Accessibility and Quality of Drug Use Disorder Treatment

Approximately 35.6 million people worldwide suffer from drug use disorders (DUDs), yet only one in eight of those in need of care receive treatment for DUDs. The quality of treatment for DUDs remains often low. Therefore, closing the overall treatment gap and increasing the accessibility to evidence-based interventions is crucial.

Following the publication of the International Standards for the Treatment of Drug Use Disorders (UNODC/WHO, 2020), the UNODC/WHO have developed a set of several technical tools on quality assurance (QA) for DUDs treatment services and systems, including the 'Key quality standards for service appraisal', with a view to improving the coverage and quality of such services. During this presentation, an overview of UNODC’s work on QA carried out so far in non-European countries and regions, including Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Central Asia and Latin America, will be presented.

QA tools have been developed using a combination of different methods, including literature reviews and expert group consultations, and further improved through peer reviews, field testing and evaluations of training workshops.

UNODC QA tools were found to be useful in reviewing the quality of DUD treatment services and have the potential to support countries in reviewing their system and increasing the coverage of DUD treatment in line with the International Standards for the Treatment of Drug Use Disorders.

Improving the coverage and quality of DUDs treatment is an agreed global priority outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2020-2030 (Target 3.5). Quality Assurance is considered an important strategy to achieve this goal.