Opiate use quadruples in Australia, while 85 per cent of the world has zero access: study

ABC, 4/2/2016

Key points:

• Study reveals opiate use doubled in developed countries, quadrupled in Australia
• 85 per cent of world’s population have no access to opioids
• Uganda plans to grow its own opium crops to overcome the issue of affordability

Professor Richard Mattick, senior author of the paper, published in The Lancet, said researchers found 95 per cent of all opioids were used in western and central Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.

• Read more here
• Read the abstract of the paper in The Lancet here