UNODC Launches New Initiative in Jordan:
Workshop celebrates Jordanian efforts and looks to bolster drug abuse services

A workshop on Jordan’s treatment and rehabilitation programmes followed the opening ceremonies. Fifty specialists from all fields of drug abuse treatment, including staff from public and private facilities and NGOs, participated. Presentations of a draft Rapid Situation Assessment study and an assessment of the current facilities in Jordan were primary topics. Other discussions included: the treatment strategies to be applied in the two facilities supported by the UNODC project, new rehabilitation and aftercare strategies and the sharing of an information system.

The participants made recommendations for upgrading drug abuse treatment services in Jordan that will be incorporated into the development of the national drug abuse treatment strategy. The new strategy should take into consideration:

• Protocols for treatment of drug addicts at the National Centre for Rehabilitation of Addicts and the Police Rehabilitation Centre;
• Coordination and cooperation between the National Centre for Rehabilitation of Addicts and the Police Treatment Centre.
• Referral of drug abusers to treatment facilities;
• Treatment of female drug abusers;
• Monitoring of the drug abuse situation;
• Establishment of 5-8 primary health care centers to function as aftercare-service providers.