EU-LAC Drug Treatment City Partnerships: Improving treatment for drug dependency

A progress report on the European Union-Latin American and the Caribbean (EU-LAC) project, funded by the European Commission, looked at several aspects:

1. Public Policies, by Mr. José Lopez Orozco, Mayor of Lugo (Spain) (CICAD/doc. 1738/09). The mayor serves on the EU-LAC Executive Board and his city will host the Second International Conference of the EU‐LAC project in May 2010. He spoke about his city’s leadership riole in the City Partnership project, its signing of four bilateral agreements with cities in the Americas to increase the exchange of experiences and information, and its program to prevent and treat drug dependency, especially among the city’s young people.
2. Treatment Services, by Dr. Winston de la Haye, MD., of the University of the West Indies (Jamaica). This part of the EU‐LAC initiative focuses on integrating local drug treatment programs into national health care services. Dr. De la Haye spoke about the gaps in the healthcare systems of developing countries and how the EU‐LAC initiative is contributing to bridging those gaps by harvesting better information through the use of a City Profile Form for rapid assessment of current status and future needs, which can serve as a basis for action.
3. Treatment Alternative to Incarceration for Drug Dependent Offenders: The Mexican Experience, Dr. Luz María García Rivas, Executive Director for Drug Demand Reduction, National Center for Planning, Analysis and Information for Combating Delinquency (Centro Nacional de Planeación, Análisis e Información para el Combate a la Delincuencia, CENAPI), Public Prosecutor of the Republic (Procuraduría General de la República, Mexico). Due to the public health crisis in Mexico, Dr. García was unable to travel to Washington, but participated through videoconferencing, the first time that CICAD had used this technology in its meetings (CICAD/doc. 1740/090)).

After the presentations on the activities and results of the EU‐LAC City Alliance on Drug Treatment and at the request of several delegations, the Commission Chair requested that the Executive Secretariat present to the European Commission, on behalf of the member states, a new project proposal that: (1) permits the participation of new countries and more municipalities; (2) includes a comprehensive approach that encompasses programs of prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and aftercare; (3) strengthens capacities, institutions and institutional cooperation in the development of public policies at the national, regional and municipal levels; (4) and strengthens and expands the work initiated by this project in the areas of treatment alternatives under court supervision.