Application of the International Standards for the Treatment of Drug Use Disorders and the Key Quality Standards for service appraisal

UNODC and WHO have jointly published the revised edition incorporating results of field testing of the International Standards for the Treatment of Drug Use Disorders in 2020. The Standards have become an international reference point and been acknowledged in various international policy documents including the outcome document of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs and various resolutions of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

To support the application of the Standards by UN Member States, UNODC is providing technical assistance to countries in their efforts to appraise the quality of their treatment services and treatment systems and to develop respective quality improvement plans. Additional technical tools, in line with the Standards, have been developed and piloted for this purpose including the Key Quality Standards for Service Appraisal (2021) and the UNODC-WHO substance use disorder treatment facility survey (2018). Same as partner organizations, UNODC also implements the PIQAT programme, which provides a number of key steps for the provision of technical assistance to countries in their efforts to ensure quality provision of treatment of disorders due to drug use.

Furthermore, UNODC is working closely with WHO on the development of a full implementation toolkit for the International Standards for the Treatment of Drug Use Disorders and is actively engaged in exploring ways to monitor the quality of treatment of drug use disorders at the global level.