Five times more lives are lost annually in NATO countries from opium abuse than the alliance's eight years of fighting against the Afghan Taliban, the United Nation's Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on Wednesday.

Some 10,000 people die from opium abuse in NATO countries each year, it said in a new report.

UNODC estimates some 15 million people take the drug each year and it contributes to the spread of HIV and AIDS. It also says 100,000 people die from opium use annually.

Afghanistan produces 92 per cent of the world's opium in a market worth some $65 billion. Opium, manufactured from the extract of poppies, can also be refined to make to heroin.

"Seizing Afghan opium where it is produced is infinitely more efficient and cheaper than trying to do so where it is consumed," UNODC chief Antonio Maria Costa said in a plea to the international community to spend more resources in fighting drug trafficking in Afghanistan.
"This is not just a shared responsibility: it's hard-headed self-interest," he added.

Production of opium has exploded in the past 10 years to reach 6,900 tonnes in 2009. That exceeds worldwide consumption and UNODC believes it will increase even further if no action is taken.

"With so much opium in evil hands, the need to locate and destroy these stocks is more urgent than ever," Costa said.