24 February 2020, Tashkent, Uzbekistan - UNODC stands committed to promoting access to drug dependence treatment, care and rehabilitation services that are based on scientific evidence, through worldwide advocacy, capacity building and expansion of services. As a part of the TreatNet project, UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia (ROCA) organized regional ToT on Course 14 "Working with Families with Substance Use Disorders" and Course 17 "Case Management Skills and Practices" of the Advance Level of the Universal Treatment Curriculum for Substance Use Disorders (UTC training package). Twenty-one trainers from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan attended a six-day training.
"The training courses of the package have been implemented in the Republic of Uzbekistan since 2013. It is remarkable that 10 national trainers successfully completed the basic level and became international certified addiction professionals. As a part of the echo trainings conducted by the national trainers, over 300 specialists of narcology service of Uzbekistan improved their knowledge and skills in evidence-based drug use interventions and treatment in 2019." - noted Mr. Farrukh Sharipov, Head of Department of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
"An important contribution towards capacity building in the region was made with 630 addiction professionals having received training on UTC training package during 2019 through conducting echo trainings by the team of national trainers. It is estimated that these newly trained professionals reached approximately 3,000 patients." - noted Ms. Ashita Mittal, UNODC Regional Representative for Central Asia.
The training is logical continuation of capacity building activities being implemented in the region since 2010 within the framework of Treatnet project. Building on human resources trained on the evidence-based drug dependence treatment and care approaches, UNODC aims to further strengthen the level of capacity at the national level in the countries of the region.
Earlier this month, on 5 February, Ms. Ashita Mittal met with Mr. Li Dong Uk, Deputy Minister of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Mr. Li Dong Uk expressed gratitude to UNODC for the effective and fruitful long-standing cooperation with the Ministry and high appreciation for the ongoing technical support in drug demand reduction and HIV prevention areas.
UNODC ROCA supports national counterparts in the Central Asian States in addressing the problems of drug use through the implementation of evidence-based prevention and treatment strategies. The major objective of the support in the area of health is to provide evidence-based prevention of drug use, treatment of drug dependence, and prevention of HIV and other negative health and social consequences associated with illicit drugs use.
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