Drug use disorders (DUDs) are emerging global public health challenges. Here we investigated the global and regional estimates of the prevalence and burden of DUDs, including amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and opioid use disorders, from 1990 to 2023 for 204 countries and territories by using the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023. Overall, trends in global age-standardized disability-adjusted life-years of DUDs increased from 169.3 (95% uncertainty interval (95% UI), 134.4–203.9) per 100,000 people in 1990 to 212.0 (95% UI, 179.2–245.6) in 2023. In 2023, both prevalence and burden of DUDs were higher in high-income countries, particularly in the USA. The most prevalent DUDs in 2023 were cannabis use disorder (age-standardized prevalence, 270.8 (95% UI, 201.7–350.0) per 100,000 people) and opioid use disorder (205.9 (95% UI, 178.7–235.0)). Particularly, opioid use disorder showed a nearly twofold increase in prevalence and burden between 1990 and 2023. In 2023, compared with countries where cannabis use was illegal, countries permitting both recreational and medical cannabis use had higher prevalence rates for all types of DUDs. Proactive and effective policies are essential to mitigate the increasing global burden of DUDs.
Correction to: Nature Medicinehttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-04137-0, published online 16 January 2026. In the original version of this article, errors and omissions were identified in the Competing Interests statements of several authors among the GBD 2023 Substance Use Collaborators. Following a comprehensive review of all competing interest declarations, corrections were required for nine authors. The competing interests statement for S. Afzal was incomplete. The statement has been amended to include grants or contracts from the Dean Office, Institute of Public Health Lahore. The competing interests statement for L. Monasta was incomplete. The statement has been amended to include support for the present manuscript from the Italian Ministry of Health to the Institute for Maternal and Child Health – IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, with payments made to the institution under project RC 34/2027; all outside the submitted work. The competing interests statement for J.P.S. was incomplete. The statement has been amended to include support for the present manuscript from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, including payment of salary under contract reference 2021.01789.CEECIND/CP1662/CT0014; all outside the submitted work. The competing interests statement for L.M.L.R.S. contained inaccuracies regarding the sources of grants or contracts. The statement has been corrected to accurately reflect support received from SPRINT – Sport Physical Activity and Health Research & Innovation Center, Polytechnic of Guarda, 6300-559 Guarda, Portugal and RISE–Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior, 6201-506 Covilhã, Portugal. The competing interests statement for J.A.S. was incomplete. The statement has been amended to include stock or stock options in Atyr Pharmaceuticals. The competing interests statement for A.C.T. contained an incorrect NIH grant number. The grant number has been corrected from K34DA061696 to K24DA061696. The competing interests statements for B. Oancea, K. Krishan, and I. N. Soyiri were omitted from the version of this article initially published. The statements have now been added and read as follows: “B.O. reports grants from the Core Program within the Romanian National Research, Development, and Innovation Plan 2022–2027, carried out with the support of MRID, project no. 23020101 (SIA-PRO), contract no. 7N/2022, and project PNRR-I8 no. 842027778, contract no. 760096. K. Krishan reports non-financial support from the UGC Centre of Advanced Study (CAS II), awarded to the Department of Anthropology, and support from the RUSA 2.0 grant awarded by the Ministry of Education to Panjab University, Chandigarh, India; all outside the submitted work. I.N.S. reports a leadership or fiduciary role in another board, society, committee, or advocacy group, paid or unpaid, as a trustee of the Citizens Advice Bureau for Hull & East Riding, United Kingdom.” These errors have now been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article. No other parts of the article have been changed.
Background: Since its inception in 1974, the Essential Programme on Immunization (EPI) has achieved remarkable success, averting the deaths of an estimated 154 million children worldwide through routine childhood vaccination. However, more recent decades have seen persistent coverage inequities and stagnating progress, which have been further amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, WHO set ambitious goals for improving vaccine coverage globally through the Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030). Now halfway through the decade, understanding past and recent coverage trends can help inform and reorient strategies for approaching these aims in the next 5 years. Methods: Based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2023, this study provides updated global, regional, and national estimates of routine childhood vaccine coverage from 1980 to 2023 for 204 countries and territories for 11 vaccine-dose combinations recommended by WHO for all children globally. Employing advanced modelling techniques, this analysis accounts for data biases and heterogeneity and integrates new methodologies to model vaccine scale-up and COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions. To contextualise historic coverage trends and gains still needed to achieve the IA2030 coverage targets, we supplement these results with several secondary analyses: (1) we assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on vaccine coverage; (2) we forecast coverage of select life-course vaccines up to 2030; and (3) we analyse progress needed to reduce the number of zero-dose children by half between 2023 and 2030. Findings: Overall, global coverage for the original EPI vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (first dose [DTP1] and third dose [DTP3]), measles (MCV1), polio (Pol3), and tuberculosis (BCG) nearly doubled from 1980 to 2023. However, this long-term trend masks recent challenges. Coverage gains slowed between 2010 and 2019 in many countries and territories, including declines in 21 of 36 high-income countries and territories for at least one of these vaccine doses (excluding BCG, which has been removed from routine immunisation schedules in some countries and territories). The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these challenges, with global rates for these vaccines declining sharply since 2020, and still not returning to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels as of 2023. Coverage for newer vaccines developed and introduced in more recent years, such as immunisations against pneumococcal disease (PCV3) and rotavirus (complete series; RotaC) and a second dose of the measles vaccine (MCV2), saw continued increases globally during the COVID-19 pandemic due to ongoing introductions and scale-ups, but at slower rates than expected in the absence of the pandemic. Forecasts to 2030 for DTP3, PCV3, and MCV2 suggest that only DTP3 would reach the IA2030 target of 90% global coverage, and only under an optimistic scenario. The number of zero-dose children, proxied as children younger than 1 year who do not receive DTP1, decreased by 74·9% (95% uncertainty interval 72·1–77·3) globally between 1980 and 2019, with most of those declines reached during the 1980s and the 2000s. After 2019, counts of zero-dose children rose to a COVID 19-era peak of 18·6 million (17·6–20·0) in 2021. Most zero-dose children remain concentrated in conflict-affected regions and those with various constraints on resources available to put towards vaccination services, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. As of 2023, more than 50% of the 15·7 million (14·6–17·0) global zero-dose children resided in just eight countries (Nigeria, India, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Indonesia, and Brazil), emphasising persistent inequities. Interpretation: Our estimates of current vaccine coverage and forecasts to 2030 suggest that achieving IA2030 targets, such as halving zero-dose children compared with 2019 levels and reaching 90% global coverage for life-course vaccines DTP3, PCV3, and MCV2, will require accelerated progress. Substantial increases in coverage are necessary in many countries and territories, with those in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia facing the greatest challenges. Recent declines will need to be reversed to restore previous coverage levels in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially for DTP1, DTP3, and Pol3. These findings underscore the crucial need for targeted, equitable immunisation strategies. Strengthening primary health-care systems, addressing vaccine misinformation and hesitancy, and adapting to local contexts are essential to advancing coverage. COVID-19 pandemic recovery efforts, such as WHO's Big Catch-Up, as well as efforts to bolster routine services must prioritise reaching marginalised populations and target subnational geographies to regain lost ground and achieve global immunisation goals. Funding: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.