Since the adoption of the first European drugs strategy (2000-2004), the EU clearly identifies drug-related problems as a Public Health issue. This approach was also recently adopted by the CELAC countries and is integrated into the Hemispheric Drugs Strategy (2011-2015) of the OAS. In this framework, the OAS clearly states that demand reduction policies must include as essential elements universal, selective and appropriate prevention; early interventions; treatment; rehabilitation and social reintegration, and associated support services. All of it with the aim of promoting the health and social well-being of individuals, families and communities, and reducing the adverse consequences of drug abuse.
However, and in spite of the initiatives promoted for many years by the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), CICAD-OAS, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Drugs Demand Reduction (DDR) is still the area with the least institutional development in most of the CELAC countries. Available resources are scarce and very little information at the regional and bi-regional level has been exchanged, being COPOLAD the first bi-regional programme addressing DDR policies.
In this framework, COPOLAD signifies an opportunity to strengthen the cooperation, coordination and promotion of synergies with DDR actions developed by the EMCDDA, the CICAD, the PAHO, the UNODC and the bi-regional networks of NGOs RIOD and IDCP.
- Latin America and the Caribbean, active and committed to the quality of DDR interventions
With the goal of facilitating the adoption of quality criteria that allow assessing and implementing Drug Demand Reduction (DDR) programmes based on the available evidence, and adapted to each reality, COPOLAD has initiated the process of validation and piloting -for Latin American countries- of the list of standards defined during the first phase of the programme.
The first two work groups constituted for this purpose are focussing in the area of treatment and harm reduction, having 15 countries from Latin America participating in the piloting process, under the leadership of Chile, through its agency Servicio Nacional para la Prevención y Rehabilitación del Consumo de Drogas y Alcohol (SENDA). These countries are: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. In the group of advanced standards are participating: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador and Uruguay. During the first international meeting for these groups (Santiago de Chile, 28-30 March, 2017), the countries agreed the specific piloting methodology for the treatment centres that make up the sample, the working plan and terms, the instruments that will be used, as well as the coordination mechanisms that will aim at the success of the project.
In the area of prevention and risk reduction, the call for Latin American countries to constitute the group that will validate, also through piloting, the basic and advanced-level standards, was initiated. This group is led by Costa Rica, through its agency Costa Rican Narcotics Institute (ICD) which already started organising this component of the project elaborating the necessary material, for the first international meeting that this group will hold in September in the city of San José de Costa Rica, during which the first products of the work group will be presented.
Also the English-speaking Caribbean countries will, as a first action, set-up a group of experts which will review and validate the language of the quality criteria, whose English-translated version is already available. Trinidad and Tobago, through the National Drug Council (NDC) is undertaking this coordination with the goal of moving forward towards a joint working plan among the countries that have shown interest in carrying out the piloting. The first international working meeting for this group of countries is projected for the month of July and will be held in Guyana.
As a final product of the validation and piloting process, the countries will count on quality standards from the perspectives of Public Health, Human Rights and Gender approach, as well as indicators and check-lists for measuring each of them during fieldwork. Meaning, an evaluation instrument based on evidence, quality and operationally viable, looking towards the development, or strengthening, of national accreditation systems of DDR programmes, that allows each interested country to guarantee the provision to their citizens of treatment and prevention programmes with a seal of approval in all their intervention processes.
- Advances in the strategy of sustainable capacity-building: On-line courses
Updates of the on-line capacity-building courses and virtual class. During this first period of the second phase of COPOLAD, the capacity-building activities have gone through a process of review and update. Concretely, they were reviewed the two on-line capacity-building courses that were developed during the first phase: 1) Use of Alcohol and Other Drugs: Evidence-Based Prevention” led by National Service for the Prevention and Rehabilitation of Drug and Alcohol Use, SENDA (Chile); and 2) Comprehensive and Integrated Socio-Sanitary Care System for Drug-Dependencies from Primary Healthcare led by National Commission for Development and Life Without Drugs, DEVIDA (Peru)
In order to conduct this update, the authors of each course were asked to collaborate with the aim of reviewing and updating the content and maintaining the quality and excellence standards that we strive for in the capacity-building offered by COPOLAD. Both courses were already available in Spanish and Portuguese, and are currently being translated into English, given that the Caribbean countries have come to take part in this second phase of COPOLAD.
In parallel, the virtual class for capacity-building is also in a process of updating and re-structuring in order to optimise its usability and favour the learning process with easily accessible tools.
Development of a new course on the incorporation of the Public Health approach in Drugs Policies. As outstanding activity for this year, COPOLAD begins with the development of a new course: The Public Health Approach on Drugs Policies, focused on strengthening the competences of National Agencies responsible for drugs policies. Its goal is to facilitate the adoption of the Public Health approach in the development and application of policies, taking into account evidence and efficiency criteria, which incorporate the pertinent technical assessment, include equity criteria and respect for the Health and Human Rights, the participation of the community and the gender perspective.
The course contains 13 themes, developed by experts in the region in each thematic area. The JND of Uruguay is leading the development and implementation of the course and different organisms such as the PAHO/WHO, CICAD, RIOD and IDPC, as well as members of the Educational Board for the COPOLAD virtual courses, are collaborating with the development of the course. The developed topics are currently available and the corresponding translations are being done so that, at the moment of its implementation, the course is available in Spanish, Portuguese and English. The presentation of this new course will take place during the 2nd COPOLAD II Annual Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during the month of May.
National and international editions. COPOLAD offers once more its on-line capacity-building courses for their national implementation to all member countries of the COPOLAD consortium. The strengthening of the professionals’ competencies is a great challenge in the region. Various countries are preparing their national editions and other countries have shown interest for a future implementation.
During the second semester of this year 2017, the international edition of the three courses in their Spanish and Portuguese versions will be initiated. For this edition, the countries will dispose of six fellowships, two for each of the three courses offered. The National Drugs Agencies of the countries have the necessary information to participate in this international edition. The interest by Caribbean countries in articulating leaderships and dates for their implementation in English is being explored.