19 June 2011 – To launch the ‘Month of Action’ nationwide anti-drug campaign in Viet Nam, a youth rally followed by a parade was organized by the UN in collaboration with the Government on 19 June. Banners bearing the UNODC theme and slogan “Global action for healthy communities without drugs” and “Think HEALTH, not drugs” were on display during the rally and on the parade route in Ha Noi.

In his speech to mark the occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong, Chairman of the National Committee on AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Control, highlighted the positive results of drug control over the past ten years and emphasized how important it was for agencies at the central and local levels to coordinate and cooperate more closely in order to intensify their efforts to combat drug trafficking and abuse. He stressed the point that young people and students should form the vanguard in drug abuse prevention campaigns in their communities and in their schools and universities.

A UNODC produced TV spot urging young people to care for their health was aired on national TV channels during the week 19-26 June. The video graphically illustrates the rapid onset of health problems caused by drug abuse.

On 24 June, the 2011 World Drug Report was launched by UNODC and the Government’s Standing Office on Drugs and Crime (SODC). Representatives from the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, Social Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Committee of Ethnic Minorities and other departments and civil society organizations attended the event. The Australian Ambassador, His Excellency Mr. Allaster Cox, in his capacity as Chairman of the Ha Noi-based Mini Dublin Group, also attended the launch. A documentary about the implementation of the drug control master plan in Viet Nam, produced by SODC, and the UNODC video were shown at the conference.

Speaking at the conference, UNODC Country Manager Zhuldyz Akisheva noted that trafficking in Asia was dominated by opium and heroin and Asian opium exports accounted for more than 99% of the global total. Opiate use, especially heroin injection, is still the major problem in Viet Nam, and accounts for the majority of HIV infections and causes incalculable harm to Vietnamese communities. She also expressed concern that amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) use is increasing and poses new threats to   people’s health. She thanked the Government for its strenuous efforts to tackle drug trafficking and abuse and continued cooperation with UNODC in implementing the international drug control system, based on the three drug conventions of 1961, 1971, and 1988.

Mr. Hoang Anh Tuyen, Deputy Director of SODC, gave a presentation on drug trends in Viet Nam and gave an overview of the drug control master plan. The number of known drug users throughout the country is over 143,000, of which heroin users represent 83.1 percent. Over 54 percent of heroin users are between the ages of 30-45 years. The total area under opium poppy cultivation in Viet Nam has continued to decrease, amounting to just 28 ha in the growing period 2010/11. There has also been a significant decline in the amount of opium seized by the Vietnamese law enforcement agencies. In 2010, drug law enforcement agencies eradicated over 1,100 drug ‘hotspots’, recorded over 14,000 cases (involving 20,000 people), seized over 320 kilos and 12 cakes of heroin, nearly 30 kilos of opium, over 8,600 kilos of cannabis, over 21 kilos and 220,000 pills of ATS.

For more information see:

•  A briefing note on drug control in Viet Nam 
•  The UN Secretary-General’s message on the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
• A TV spot on drug abuse

• < Prev
• Next >