Responding to a request made by the new authorities of the National Commission for the Study and Prevention of Drug-Related Crimes (CONAPRED), Panama, the PAHO-PAN Representation Office organized the online seminar "Comprehensive approach of substance use with a public health orientation", aimed especially at judicial officials and concerned public, and which was held on October 15, 2020.
The activity was aimed at strengthening the development of strategic alliances with key players involved in promoting actions to reduce drug demand and supply through the formulation and implementation of national policies, plans and programmes for the comprehensive approach to the use of psychoactive substances with a public health orientation.
The introductory words to the seminar were presented by Dr. Jorge Victoria, PAHO's representative in Panama and Mr. Jissel Maitin, Executive Secretary of CONAPRED. The exposition "The Public Health Dimension for Substance Use Problems: Challenges for the Justice Sector" was led by Dr. Luis Alfonzo B., PAHO’s Regional Advisor on Substance Use, who addressed the essential elements of supporting the health approach on a scale-up to the global drug problem, its significance at the global, regional and national levels.
Next, Mr. Antonio Lomba, head of the Institutional Strengthening Unit of the Inter-American Commission on Drug Abuse Control (CICAD OAS) and Ms. Sofia Cobo, Legal Consultant at CICAD OAS, presented the "Experience of the TTD Drug Treatment Courts”, in which they lectured on the basics of therapeutic alternatives to incarceration, their usefulness and the experiences that CICAD has been promoting in the Region.
This seminar is part of the strategic line: partnerships with key players, contained in PAHO's Plan of Action on Substance Use and Public Health, both at the national level, as is the case with CONAPRED, and regional level, with CICAD OAS, with whom PAHO has signed a cooperation agreement to strengthen the public health approach in addressing substance use problems.