Building an EU consensus for minimum quality standards in the prevention, treatment and harm reduction of drugs

About the conference

Improving the quality and effectiveness of interventions and services in the field of prevention, treatment, harm reduction, rehabilitation and social reintegration is a priority under the EU Drugs Strategy.

To achieve this important goal, EU governments agreed, in the EU Drugs Action Plan 2009-2012, to develop a European consensus on minimum quality standards and benchmarks in the field of drug demand reduction and put in place a common reference framework.

Quality standards are determined by different stakeholders at local, regional and national level: policy-makers, health authorities, service providers, professionals and client needs.

A range of national quality standards and good practice guidelines are in place across the European Union. Which of those standards could help improve the general quality of prevention programmes, treatment and harm reduction services across the EU?

The development of minimum quality standards at the EU level will need to take account of the national differences in terms of drug use and drug problems in the EU, the differences in the organisation and structure of government and health care systems as well as cultural and socio-economic factors.

Building a consensus in consultation with stakeholders will be key to the success towards building a European framework for minimum quality standards in the field of drug demand reduction.

This conference, hosted by the European Commission in association with the Hungarian Presidency of the EU, will bring together policy-makers, practitioners, NGOs and researchers in the fields of drug prevention, treatment and harm reduction to discuss the preliminary findings of a Commission study carried out by the Swiss Research Institute for Public Health and Addiction at Zürich University (ISGF) in collaboration with European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

Participants

A number of places are reserved for invited participants from EU member countries. Please register using the on-line registration form.

Participation is also open to experts active in the field of drug prevention, treatment and harm reduction.

We welcome participation from stakeholders in the policy field, from public health authorities, service providers, treatment, harm reduction and counselling centres, representatives from the medical professions, social workers, user groups, non-government organisations, standard-setting bodies, insurance companies and researchers in the field of drug demand reduction.

If you would like to participate, please pre-register using the on-line registration form. Your registration will be subject to approval and confirmed by TIPIK. Please note that participation may have to be restricted due to the limited number of places available.

There is no conference fee.

Registration deadline

Participants are kindly requested to complete their registration online by 27 May 2011.

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