MOSCOW — A forum entitled “Afghan Drug Production – A Challenge to the International Community” opens here on Wednesday. It will focus on stepping up the fight against drug trafficking from Afghanistan, which has grown dramatically in the recent years.

The forum will be attended by heads of anti-drug authorities and law enforcement agencies from various countries, Russian and foreign experts, representatives from such international organizations as the United Nations, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, NATO and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

The situation around drug production in Afghanistan has gained a catastrophic character. Some 100,000 people died globally from Afghan drugs in 2009 alone. In all, Afghan-made opiates have claimed one million human lives in the past decade, and 16 million more ruined their health.