Good afternoon, bonjour, buenos dias,
dobre jen, my name is Michel Kazatchkine,
I'm the director of the course and the senior fellow here at Geneva at
the Global Health Center of the Graduate
Institute for International Affairs and Development.
Geneva where we're filming,
the city where the Global International Community comes
together to discuss health and human rights related issues.
Together with the team that has worked on preparing this book,
the University of Geneva and the National Agency for Research in France,
we would like to welcome you to this course on drugs,
drug use, drug policy and health.
Drugs and drug policies are debated every day,
everywhere across the world with a variety of perspectives and approaches from
the most compassionate to the most repressive
and brutal as we've recently seen in the Philippines.
As an HIV physician,
I have witnessed myself firsthand the damage of the HIV-AIDS epidemic among
people who use drugs in my own country in France back in the 80s and 90s,
and I continue to see it's devastating impact in Eastern Europe and
Central Asia where I work as the UN Secretary General Special Envoy.
In the last five years,
I have also had the privilege to work closely with the Global Commission on Drug Policy.
Kofi Annan, a member of our commission has said,
"Drugs may have harmed many people,
but poor government policies have harmed many more."
This is why we have designed this mock to provide you with the facts,
with the evidence, with
the background elements so to allow you to make your own judgment.
The mock is build around six models comprised of videos and readings.
Each module is focusing on one particular set of issues such as: What are drugs?
Why do people use them?
How and why are they controlled by the international systems?
What have drug policies achieved?
Have they been helpful or harmful to people and society?
The issue of access to opioids for medical use
and other controlled substances for medical and scientific use,
and the current debate on drug policy reform.
These issues will be presented to you by 40 speakers from scientific,
academic and institutional backgrounds,
but also journalists spokespersons for the civil society,
and people who use drugs.
You will be able to go more in-depth into each of
the issues through additional, optional,
videos and readings, and be also able to
take part in discussions by participating in electronic forum.
Each week you will also be offered to answer a number of questions and
test your knowledge as part of the pedagogic framework associated with the mock.
The course will be in English with subtitles in French,
Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese and Russian.
By the end of the mock you should be able to have
a good understanding of drug and drug policy related health issues,
and a clear vision of why this is so much debated today.
If you so wish, you will also be equipped to join and engage in
the drug policy reform movements yourself at local or regional level wherever you are.
So, I wish you an exciting experience and a successful journey with our course.