Vienna  - Germany openly criticized Thursday a new United Nations plan on fighting the global drug problem, saying the document did not specifically mention harm reduction measures for addicts.

"To be frank, the draft political declaration does not fully satisfy us," German Ambassador Ruediger Luedeking told UN member countries at a conference of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna.

Germany and other European countries could not convince others to include the contentious term "harm reduction" in the text, which refers to a variety of measures such as drug substitution and needle exchange programmes, or providing rooms where addicts can safely inject drugs.

Russia and Italy are among the countries that oppose such strategies, which are implemented in 80 countries, diplomats said. The United States also expressed some reservations.

"In our view, the new draft political declaration could and should have been more future-oriented and more courageous than it is now," the German ambassador said.

The US was opposed to the term "harm reduction" as it includes measures that would make the government seem to condone drug use, US diplomats explained. However, Washington was not opposed to specific programmes such as needle exchange, they said.

The political declaration and action plan to be adopted this evening in Vienna sets out goals for the coming decade.

It calls on countries to find a better balance between measures to curb supply and demand by improving demand reduction strategies and by strengthening health care and social services. dpa