31/03/2017
Chile welcomes 15 Latin American countries to a meeting organised by COPOLAD to develop quality criteria for drug demand reduction programmes.
Working group at the meeting in Santiago, Chile
In Santiago, Chile, the first meeting of the two working groups to validate the basic and advanced standards for drug treatment and damage reduction in Latin American countries was held. It was organised by COPOLAD II, the international cooperation programme between the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the European Union (EU) on drug policy.
This activity is being led by Chile through the National Department for Prevention and Rehabilitation of Drug and Alcohol Consumption (SENDA). The attendees are experts on drug demand reduction from 15 Latin American countries. The purpose of the meeting is to start the validation process for both basic and advanced quality criteria regarding drug treatment and damage reduction in 15 Latin American countries. This process is within the framework of the agreements reached during the first phase of the COPOLAD Programme (2011-2015).
This work is jointly managed and coordinated by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO-WHO), the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission of the Organization of American States (CICAD-OAS), and the Ibero-American Network of NGOs That Work in Drug Addiction (RIOD).
During the implementation of this process, various international meetings are being considered. This first meeting held in Chile will enable the coordination of the launch of the project and the first actions for its implementation. The second meeting will enable the evaluation of the process developed to date and the definition of the criteria and strategies to be incorporated into the institutional evaluation systems of each country.
The National Department for the Prevention and Rehabilitation of Drug and Alcohol Consumption (SENDA) is the Chilean government agency responsible for creating prevention policies for drug and alcohol consumption, as well as policies on treatment, rehabilitation and social integration of people affected by these substances.
The second phase of the COPOLAD Programme is entirely funded by the European Commission with a budget of €10 million, which will be administered by Spain over the next four years.
