A/HRC/10/44 page 19 in some developing and transitional countries, the most effective treatments for opiate addiction are available to fewer than 1 per cent of those in need. According to recent reports, only in 33 countries, persons in detention have access to the therapy45 (this does not mean generalized access, but availability in at least one prison). 59. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur wishes to recall the WHO/United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Principles of Drug Dependence Treatment of March 2008,46 which explicitly refer to the need to view drug dependence as any other health-care condition, in terms of the standards of ethical treatment and stress that drug addicts enjoy the right to autonomy and privacy. Access to treatment and care services needs to be ensured also for the patients not motivated to stop drug use or relapsing after treatment, as well as during detention periods in prison. The principles also emphasize that drug dependence treatment should in general be voluntary and that, if it is part of State-imposed penal sanctions, the patient should have the possibility to reject treatment. The Special Rapporteur underlines the requirement of consent in this respect and recalls that the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights interpreted article 12 of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to include “the right to be free from […] non-consensual medical treatment and experimentation” and stressed that States had the obligation to refrain from applying coercive medical treatments, unless on an exceptional basis in line with applicable international standards.47 2. High risk of infection with HIV/AIDS 60. On average, 1 of every 10 new HIV infections is caused by injected drug use, and in some countries and regions, this percentage is much higher. According to WHO, of all new HIV infections in Eastern Europe and Central Asia in 2005, 67 per cent were due to injection drug use.48 The Reference Group to the United Nations on HIV and Injecting Drug Use concluded that 1 in 5 of the 15.9 million injecting drug users could be HIV-positive; in addition, nine countries have HIV rates among injecting drug users of 40 per cent or more. In his report of March 2007 (A/61/816) the Secretary-General stated that estimates from 94 low- and middle-income countries show that the proportion of injecting drug users receiving some type of prevention services was 8 per cent in 2005, and observed that this indicates “virtual neglect of this most-at-risk population”.49 45 See International Harm Reduction Association (2008), “Global State of Harm Reduction 2008: Mapping the response to drug-related HIV and hepatitis C epidemics”, p. 18. 46 www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/principles_drug_dependence_treatment.pdf. 47 General comments No. 14, paras. 8 and 34. 48 WHO background note: Access to Controlled Medications Programme, September 2008; and UNAIDS, AIDS Epidemic Update 07, at http://data.unaids.org/pub/EPISlides /2007/2007_epiupdate_en.pdf. 49 www.idurefgroup.unsw.edu.au/IDURGWeb.nsf/page/Key+Data+Holdings.