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adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of
the Assembly, on 31 May 2022 (see Doc. 15454, report of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and
Sustainable Development, rapporteur: Mr Joseph O’Reilly).
1. The Parliamentary Assembly refers
to its Resolution 2441
(2022) “Addiction to prescribed medicines”. It is convinced
that this topic should be given a higher priority in Europe. It
considers that the Council of Europe, with its various specialised
bodies (such as the Council of Europe International Co-operation
Group on Drugs and Addiction (Pompidou Group), the European Directorate
for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare and the Steering Committee
for Human Rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health), is well
placed to contribute to preventing and fighting harmful addiction
to prescribed medicines.
2. The Assembly thus recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
2.1 consider issuing a recommendation
on the rights of patients in relation to the use of prescription medicines,
setting out, inter alia, the
right to effective access to and the availability of essential medicines,
including those that contain controlled substances under international
law, and the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard
of physical and mental health, free of dependency or addiction;
2.2 encourage the relevant Council of Europe bodies to work
closely with the World Health Organization in this area, including
on the possible drafting and issuance of guidance on prevention, identification,
management and treatment of addiction to/dependence on prescribed
medicines at global and/or Council of Europe level.
