Bridging the Global Treatment Gap for Cocaine and Stimulant Use Disorders Through Multinational Collaboration and Innovation

Summary

The escalating prevalence of psycho-stimulant use, including in low-to-middle-income countries, underscores the pressing need for effective treatments for cocaine or stimulant use disorder. Despite some promising clinical trials, publication of systematic reviews, and treatment guidelines that promote the use of medications in certain jurisdictions, there are no globally approved pharmacological treatments for stimulant use disorder. The availability of evidence-based psychosocial and behavioral interventions is also severely restricted and significantly varies across countries, contributing to a substantial treatment deficit worldwide. In response, the World Health Organization recently published recommendations on effective interventions to address psycho-stimulant use and stimulant use disorder. Moreover, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime introduced a #ScaleUp initiative, aiming to reduce these gaps and inequalities through the development, dissemination, and promotion of implementation of scalable interventions, as well as the accumulation of data to support the approval of new evidence-based treatments