Substance Abuse

Factsheet

The bare facts

We know what can and needs to be done to help reduce the burden of psychoactive substance use. Therefore, WHO is committed to assisting countries in the development, organization, monitoring and evaluation of treatment and other services.

• The harmful use of alcohol results in 3.3 million deaths each year.
• On average every person in the world aged 15 years or older drinks 6.2 litres of pure alcohol per year.
• Less than half the population (38.3%) actually drinks alcohol, this means that those who do drink consume on average 17 litres of pure alcohol annually.
• At least 15.3 million persons have drug use disorders.
• Injecting drug use reported in 148 countries, of which 120 report HIV infection among this population.

Substance abuse refers to the harmful or hazardous use of psychoactive substances, including alcohol and illicit drugs. One of the key impacts of illicit drug use on society is the negative health consequences experienced by its members. Drug use also puts a heavy financial burden on individuals, families and society.

The evolution of the complex global illicit drug problem is clearly driven by a range of factors. Sociodemographic trends are influential such as the population’s gender, age and the rate of urbanization.

Cannabis remains the most widely used illicit substance in the African Region. The highest prevalence and increase in use is being reported in West and Central Africa with rates between 5.2% and 13.5%.

Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) such as "ecstasy" and methamphetamine now rank as Africa’s second most widely abused drug type. Other substances that were used by children and youth surveyed in Sierra Leone, included benzodiazepines such as diazepam, chlorpromazine and different inhalants, while 3.7% were injecting drugs.

Injecting drugs carries a high risk of infection with bloodborne viruses such as HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, and the sharing of contaminated needles and syringes is an important mode of transmission for those viruses.