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Workshop "Quality Assurance of Drug Use Disorder Treatment Care Based on International Standards for the Treatment of Drug Use Disorders" in Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo, March 5, 2021. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Central America and the Caribbean (UNODC ROPAN), through the project on quality assurance of care in the treatment of substance use disorders, delivered from March 1 to 5 the workshop "Quality assurance of treatment care for drug use disorders based on international standards for the treatment of drug use disorders 2020".

This training was aimed at 36 health professionals specialized in the treatment of drug use disorders and evaluation of the quality of care in health services from Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.

The opening session of this activity was attended by Andrés Fingerut, head of the Prevention and Health section of UNODC Vienna; Jaime Marte Martínez, president of the National Drug Council of the Dominican Republic, Luis Alfonzo, advisor on Substance Abuse of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and José Vila del Castillo, Regional Representative of UNODC ROPAN.

"In our region, the situation of consumption of drugs such as cocaine and marijuana continues to be an issue of high concern due to the health effects and the associated social and security aspects. Added to this is the risk of new trends in consumption, as well as the proliferation of new psychoactive substances and the use of controlled drugs without medical prescription," said Vila del Castillo.

The Regional Representative added that "evidence indicates that, for society, the cost of treating a person is much lower than the health, social and economic costs of not providing this treatment.

In this regard, "for several years, UNODC-ROPAN has carried out projects in Central America and the Caribbean that have helped the countries of the area to strengthen their capacity to provide adequate treatment to people with drug use disorders".

Globally, approximately 36 million people suffer from drug use disorders and require treatment, and only 1 out of every 8 people who require treatment are able to receive it.