International Standards On Drug Use Prevention– Evidence-Based Prevention and the Development of National Prevention Systems Globally

This Round-Table will focus on efforts being made to prepare International Standards on Drug Use Prevention by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in collaboration with other international partners, including the European Monitoring Center for Drug and Drug Addiction, Canadian Centre of Substance Abuse,  Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission, International Labour Organisation, Mentor foundation, National Institute of Drug Abuse and the World Health Organisation.

These standards aim to empower UN Member States to develop comprehensive and effective drug prevention systems, and specifically to create effective policies and interventions that will promote healthy lifestyles, particularly among youth. The ultimate goal is to form a common science-based foundation for prevention work. The target group of the standards are national-level policy makers especially at the low- and middle-income countries.

The standards have been developed using a validated methodology for grading the evidence integrating health and behavioural fields, and convening an international panel of leading researchers and policy makers. The process will be completed in 2013. To support the dissemination of these standards, the partners involved are going to organize series of capacity building events for policy makers. Topics covered include how to assess existing needs, resources, and existing prevention services and structures, how to develop these to include more evidence-based practices, and how to establish national level coordination, monitoring and evaluation systems. Tools for these trainings and for evaluating them are being developed.

Systematic monitoring shall evaluate the outcomes of these trainings and of the implementation of the standards. Of particular importance is to understand the obstacles and potentials in developing national prevention systems and activities in low- and middle income countries where resources are scarce. The Round-Table Discussion will focus on ways in which existing research can best inform national level policy decisions, the types of monitoring and evaluation systems that would best inform policy makers, the potential funding channels and resources for this type of research, and the development of national prevention systems, including how to best study the effectiveness of national level systems.