World Health Organization guidelines for the treatment of substance use disorders and comorbid conditions

Abstract

In terms of prevalence and distribution of substance use disorders, the estimated numbers of people with different types of substance use disorders reflect the same proportions that we observe for exposure to or consumption of psychoactive substances. Approximately 250 million people in the world suffer from alcohol use disorders with a much higher rate in men than in women (7.2 percent versus 1.3 percent in women), about 30 million people live with drug-use disorders. In addition, according to the latest global estimates, 12 million people in the world are injecting drug users.

Keywords

• substance use disorders
• treatment
• comorbid conditions