22/10/2020
Within the framework of the EU-ACT project, specialists from several countries have been trained on the effects of psychoactive substances
Specialists during the training session
Several doctors and psychiatrists from Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Pakistan and Ukraine have come together virtually to receive training on the treatment and the harm caused by new psychoactive substances and drugs.
The training sessions were organised by the EU-ACT project together with European institutions such as the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EU4MD) and the United Kingdom Network for Psychoactive Treatment (NEPTUNE), which belongs to the United Kingdom Health Service (NHS). The training of doctors and psychiatrists was carried out by Dr. Dima Abdulrahim and Dr. Owen Bowden-Jones, experts from NEPTUNE. These two specialists have produced the ‘Guidance on the Clinical Management of Acute and Chronic Harms of Club Drugs and Novel Psychoactive Substances‘.
The guide is divided into different titles that include relevant information about substances such as hallucinogens, cannabis synthetics, and other stimulant and depressant substances. The document has been translated into Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian and Romanian.
The first training meeting is part of a set of 5 sessions that aim to present the latest trends in the treatment of the effects on people of new psychoactive substances and drugs, such as ecstasy and ketamine. These sessions are intended to enable the training up of specialists so that, in turn, they can become trainers for other specialists. Thus, the ultimate goal is to improve knowledge on this topic through the training of a limited number of key specialists per country, so that these key specialists can adapt and introduce this experience in their respective countries.
EU-ACT is a project funded by the European Union and managed by FIIAPP. Its aim is to transfer the comprehensive and balanced approach of the EU on drugs to improve the efficiency and operational cooperation of the institutions in charge of the fight against drug trafficking. It also promotes the improvement of institutional synergies for combating organised international crime.
