New prevalence data released to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking has laid bare the scale of substance use in two large developing nations. Kenya’s national drug authority reported that 4.7 million people aged 15 to 65—roughly one in six—use at least one drug, with Mombasa county recording a prevalence of 34.4 per cent. Indonesian health officials projected that the number of users in the same age group would rise from 4.1 million in 2025 to 4.6 million this year, with the highest burden among 20- to 29-year-olds and a rise among adolescents that it said required immediate intervention. In Nigeria, the UNODC warned that the drug trade, increasingly driven by synthetic substances and new trafficking routes, is fuelling insecurity as organised criminal networks exploit the nexus between illicit economies and instability.

The shifting drug market is forcing governments to adapt. Kenyan authorities highlighted the recent seizure of 1,024 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine in the Indian Ocean as evidence of the scale of trafficking, while NACADA has begun using wastewater analysis to monitor consumption trends in near real-time. Indonesia’s health ministry acknowledged a wide gap between the tens of thousands who received medical rehabilitation last year and the hundreds of thousands to millions estimated to need it, with only 1,494 health facilities across 35 provinces serving as referral points.

Governments are responding with a mix of enforcement, prevention and treatment. Kenya’s interior ministry outlined a strategy combining law enforcement with early intervention, rehabilitation and social reintegration. Ghana’s interior minister announced plans to strengthen the Narcotics Control Commission through legal reforms, improved logistics and a new forensic laboratory. In Indonesia, the health ministry called for integrating standardised screening into primary care, expanding methadone therapy, and removing financial barriers for the poor. Officials in all three countries stressed that families and communities must act as the front line of prevention.

The commemorations yielded concrete commitments whose implementation will be closely watched. Ghana’s planned forensic laboratory, Kenya’s expansion of wastewater monitoring, and Indonesia’s drive to embed drug screening in community health centres are among the next steps. The UNODC, while commending Nigeria’s balanced approach, emphasised that sustained political commitment and inter-agency collaboration remain critical. The new data has given policymakers a sharper picture, and the coming months will test whether the announced measures can begin to close the gap between need and treatment.