A/HRC/30/65 counters the effects of opioid overdose, can prevent overdose-related deaths and minimize the harm associated with drug overdose (see A/65/255, para. 54).16 16. Providing drug users with access to drug-consumption rooms can contribute to preventing the transmission of diseases and to reducing damage to the veins, as well as encourage users to make use of treatment and other services. Drug-consumption rooms have contributed to reducing overdose rates and increased access to medical and social services (see A/65/255, para. 54). 17. As of 2014, needle and syringe programmes had been implemented in 90 countries and opioid substitution therapy was available in 80 countries. However, needle and syringe programmes have been confirmed to be absent in 68 countries where drugs are injected. In 2014, it was reported that there were 88 drug-consumption rooms worldwide, of which only two were outside of Europe, Australia and Canada.17 18. The lack of needle and syringe programmes, in particular, has a direct impact on the spread of HIV. People who inject drugs account for approximately 10 per cent of all new HIV infections and for up to 30 per cent of new HIV infections outside sub-Saharan Africa. Worldwide, an estimated 12.19 million people inject drugs, of whom 1.65 million are living with HIV.18 WHO has estimated, on the basis of data from 49 countries, that the average risk of HIV infection is 22 times greater among people who inject drugs than among people in the general population; in 11 of those countries, the risk is at least 50 times higher.19 19. Among the benefits associated with harm reduction programmes is the increased entry into HIV/AIDS treatment programmes (see A/65/255, para. 57). UNODC, WHO and UNAIDS have recommended that a comprehensive package of harm reduction services be integrated into national AIDS programmes, both as an HIV prevention measure and to support adherence to antiretroviral therapy services and medical follow-up for people who use drugs.20 20. One study compared countries that comprehensively and consistently adopted approaches based on harm reduction without punitive approaches with countries that steadfastly resisted the harm reduction programmes and focused instead on punitive approaches. It found that the prevalence of HIV among people who injected drugs in Australia, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was less than 5 per cent, whereas in the Russian Federation and Thailand HIV prevalence among people who injected drugs was over 35 per cent.21 C. Heath care in prison 21. Drug use, including by injection, has been consistently documented to occur in prisons throughout the world. High rates of sharing injecting equipment leads to an elevated risk of transmitting HIV in prisons. Persons in custodial settings are entitled, without discrimination, to the same standard of health care found on the outside, including with regard to prevention, harm reduction and antiretroviral therapy. Continuity of care is critical 16 17 18 19 20 21 WHO, Consolidated Guidelines, p. 4. Harm Reduction International, The Global State of Harm Reduction 2014. UNODC, World Drug Report 2015 (United Nations publication, sales No. E.15.XI.6), p. ix. WHO, Consolidated Guidelines, p. 5. WHO, UNODC and UNAIDS, Technical Guide, pp. 10-21. Global Commission on HIV and the Law, HIV and the Law: Risks, Rights and Health (New York, July 2012) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Addressing the Development Dimensions of Drug Policy (June 2015), p. 19. 5