DRUG DEMAND REDUCTION IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA TO BE REVIEWED AT HANOI MEETING ORGANIZED BY UNDCP
Press Release
SOC/NAR/716
DRUG DEMAND REDUCTION IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA TO BE REVIEWED AT HANOI MEETING ORGANIZED BY UNDCP
19951208 VIENNA, 7 December (UN Information Service) -- Strategies for preventing and treating drug abuse in the countries of south-east Asia and the Pacific will be the focus of a regional meeting of government specialists in the drug demand reduction field, to be held in Hanoi from 11 to 15 December.The Expert Forum on Demand Reduction in South-East Asia and the Pacific will bring together some 70 experts from 18 countries to examine steps being taken in the subregion to prevent drug abuse, treat addiction and reduce the rate of relapse among former drug abusers. Those experts from the health, education, labour and social welfare fields will draw on their multifaceted experience to formulate an action programme to strengthen demand reduction efforts in the subregion.
The Forum is being organized by the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), with financial support from the European Commission. Its host is the Vietnamese Government.
The event will place special emphasis on institutional arrangements to be developed for policy formulation and implementation of demand reduction responses. Among the topics to be discussed will be how to collect meaningful data on drug abuse, what "effective drug abuse prevention programmes" are and how to raise public awareness and community outreach. Other key concerns will be how to ensure that gender issues are effectively addressed in drug abuse prevention projects and how to incorporate human immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV) prevention measures in drug abuse prevention activities.
Included in the programme will be presentations on situation assessment methods, drug abuse prevention education for youth and examples of a national demand reduction strategy.
Participants will also explore ways of targeting demand reduction campaigns to drug abuse patterns and of tailoring such efforts to each country's needs. Other issues will be how to link government drug demand reduction activities with those of United Nations agencies and regional organizations.
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Taking part in the meeting will be specialists from Australia, Cambodia, China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Macao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam and Western Samoa.
Representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Colombo Plan for economic and social development in Asia and the Pacific are also expected to participate.
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