As pointed out in the Report on Drug Use in the Americas (Inter-American Commission for Drug Abuse Control, 2015), even though CELAC countries have achieved great progresses in the generation and analysis of drug-related data there are still many challenges ahead. In some countries it is still necessary to establish or consolidate the resources and instruments to guarantee the collection of reliable indicators in a periodical, sustainable and comparable manner. Throughout the execution of the first phase of COPOLAD (2011-2015), it was observed the need to help countries consolidate –and in some cases create– their National Drugs Observatories (NDOs), in their capacity for managing and producing reliable, relevant and appropriate information.
The NDOs of the CELAC countries are aware of how important to develop and implement a national Early Warning System (EWS) is, which can be coordinated by them, with the aim of counting –as soon as possible– on a mechanism that allows identifying new threats and new types of use in different populations. Another point of interest and concern is the follow-up of the basic indicators in Demand Reduction and Supply Reduction to monitor trends and to achieve a diagnosis integrating key information for both areas. There must be more in-depth studies on –among others– substance use patterns in the adolescent and young population; the indicators associated with the perception of risk; the relation between production/availability of drugs and the use of them; drug-related crime rates, as well as persons deprived of liberty for associated crimes; characterisation of substances, etc.
In this framework, strengthening the institutional and technical capacity of NDOs is a key issue for the advancement in the knowledge that must be the basis for effective public policies. Research must contemplate a wide variety of methodological designs to match the complexity of the problems to be analysed. In this framework, it is necessary to develop, improve or strengthen the relevant indicators in a stable way, with the aim of contributing to making informed decisions that result in the implementation of effective policies, strategies and programmes, as well as to improve the public dissemination of quality information. The Inter-American Observatory on Drugs (OID) of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), cooperate closely in the framework of this Component of COPOLAD to foster these advancements.
- COPOLAD study on the situation of National Drugs Observatories in the CELAC countries finalised
COPOLAD, under the leadership of Secretary on Comprehensive Drugs Policies of Argentina SEDRONAR (Argentina) and Junta Nacional de Drogas, JND (Uruguay), have concluded this study, which provides relevant and detailed information on the current situation of the National Drugs Observatories (NDOs) in the 33 member countries of the CELAC, considering the characteristics, needs and shortages of NDOs in each country, in Latin America and the Caribbean, regarding to the following dimensions: capacity for the development of relevant studies in Demand and Supply Reduction; availability and operability in the country of an Early Warning System (EWS); realisation of specific gender studies; implementation of studies in specific populations, persons deprived from liberty, epidemiological windows, etc. This 2016 study has also allowed a follow-up on the NDOs that participated in the study carried out during the first phase of COPOLAD, during 2012. Based on this review of the state of the matter, another objective was to propose the contents for the work groups, which are a priority for the strengthening of the CELAC NDOs, according to the observed specific needs.
Taking these objectives into account, and considering the method used (e-mail sent to each CELAC country with a standardized questionnaire for data collection), the high response rate is remarkable (93.9% of the 33 CELAC countries), corresponding to the interest that the NDOs of each country has shown in participating, and also enables the disposition of updated data with a broad territorial coverage. In addition, the thematic width of the questionnaire provides an extensive register of key pieces of information on the situation, strengths, advances, and challenges existing in each of the countries participating in the study, which facilitates pulling out conclusions and recommendations for the countries' future for the future for the countries, in addition to orienting the final content of the work groups and the capacity-building activities foreseen until 2019. The report of this study will be published simultaneously in Spanish and English and will be available in paper and electronic format.
- 1st COPOLAD II Annual Meeting of National Drugs Observatories (Kingston, Jamaica, 5-9 December, 2016), and launch of foreseen work groups
With the participation of 31 out of the 33 CELAC countries, the week included the implementation of two capacity-building courses on: Research methods and Essential concepts on the work of the Observatories. Additionally, and after the presentation of preliminary results of the study described on the last section, this meeting also provided the opportunity to define the four Work Groups (WG) foreseen in Component 1 of COPOLAD, with the active participation of all the countries and organisations involved:
- Enhancement and strengthening of the Early Warning Systems (EWS).
- Designing of studies to assess and validate scales of “problematic drug use” indicators.
- Strengthening the capacity of NDOs to elaborate a national drugs report.
- Development of methodologies to improve the understanding of new problems and threats.
Since January 2017 the methodological and operational proposal that will articulate each WG has been structured, and the activities foreseen are currently starting to be implemented, under the leadership of different Latin American and Caribbean countries interested in each case, that will count on European Union countries as reference, under a scheme prioritising the South-South Cooperation model among the CELAC countries.The evaluation of the activities by the participants was very positive, stressing that the exchanges of experiences between the EU and CELAC regions must be maintained and reinforced through the development of the activities foreseen in the COPOLAD work plan. The international organisations (EMCDDA, CICAD) that actively participate in COPOLAD as collaborating entities, pointed out the importance of keeping the high level of mutual communication and cooperation achieved until date, as key elements contributing to achieve the objective of this Component of COPOLAD: the strengthening and consolidation of NDOs in each country. Read more