thebahamasweekly.com - Bahamian Officials Applaud CICAD Decision to Continue Capacity Building Initiatives Among Member States

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Bahamas Information Services Updates
Bahamian Officials Applaud CICAD Decision to Continue Capacity Building Initiatives Among Member States
By Bahamas Information Services
Apr 24, 2017 - 9:14:43 PM

WASHINGTON, D.C., USA – The Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) will continue to assist Member States in strengthening institutional, technical and human capabilities for implementation of comprehensive drug control programmes through its Drug Control Capacity Building and Technical Assistance Session, CICAD Executive Secretary Ambassador Adam Namm said.

Similarly, the Evidence-based Drug Policy Section will support Member States in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of national policies, together with the strengthening of “valuable data collection and analysis.”

Ambassador Namm also announced that the Executive Secretariat would continue to train health professionals in order to improve the treatment offered to drug dependents, centering activities on the individual as the focus of interventions.

“I look forward to working with ministries of health, national drug commissions and civil society in the formulation of public policy related to drug prevention, treatment and rehabilitation,” Ambassador Namm added.

The disclosures were hailed as critical to national, regional and hemispheric drug prevention, treatment and rehabilitation initiatives, by Bahamian officials attending the 61st Regular Session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), April 24, 2017 at the OAS Building in Washington, D.C.

“These disclosures are of significant benefit to countries such as The Bahamas as we push forward in our efforts to reduce illicit drug trafficking, and to treat drug addiction/abuse as a public health issue rather than solely a criminal issue; and as we continue to build in-country capacity through the training of key elements,” Sergeant David Ramsey, Supply Reduction Officer, National Anti-Drug Secretariat (NADS) said.

“And so it was welcomed news to hear that CICAD will continue to facilitate assistance in these key areas.”

Ambasador Namm said evidence-based policies are key to successfully addressing the drug problem in the Hemisphere with the formulation of sound indicators being a critical part of the equation.

He said in that regard, CICAD will continue to assist member countries through the Drug Information Network which has developed guidelines for indicators based on experience by employing drug use surveys in secondary schools, households, treatment centres, universities and prison.

Sergeant Ramsey said the National Anti-Drug Secretariat has conducted two secondary schools surveys (2008 and 2011) and is presently conducting a Household Survey that is scheduled to be completed by the end of April. A third secondary schools survey is set for the Fall Semester, 2017 in The Bahamas.

“The Household Survey will – among other things -- advise us on the types of drugs being abused, accessibility to those drugs, at what age drug use and abuse began, and how they got started – either encouragement by family members or through peer pressure.

“The information gathered from the survey will be used to formulate additional policies and programmes. The survey also has an educational and awareness component where participants are advised of treatment facilities and information they can access if necessary.

“The National Anti-Drug Secretariat and its stakeholders knew that we were on the right path. Hearing the Executive Secretary’s announcements was further confirmation of that,” Sergeant Ramsey added.

Ambassador Namm also focused on key areas such as quality research and evaluation, which he called “invaluable” in the war against the global drug problem.

“Despite all of the available research on prevention and treatment programmes, for example, a basic and ongoing problem in many of our countries is the widespread lack of solid information with regards to which policies and interventions are working best in the hemisphere. The current lack of information on the success or failure of policies and programmes represents a significant deficiency that hampers efforts to discern which policies and programmes to keep in place and which to discard.

“As Executive Secretary, my focus will be on strengthening the capacity of our Member States to address the drug problem which could be referred to in the plural – drug problems – as the challenges each Member State faces, are distinct,” Ambassador Namm said.