CONCLUSIONS

OF THE COUNCIL AND THE MINISTERS FOR HEALTH MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL

of 13 November 1989

on the implementation of coordinated measures for preventing drug addiction and coping with drug addicts

(90/C 31/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND THE MINISTERS FOR HEALTH OF THE MEMBER STATES MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL,

Reiterate their profound concern at the spread of drug addiction throughout the Member States of the Community;

Confirm in this connection the importance of carrying out rapidly the work entrusted to the Commission at their meeting on 16 May 1989, especially as regards the setting-up of a European network of health data on drug abuse;

Feel that the Community is in a position to make a significant contribution of its own to national and international activities in this field;

Consider that, particularly in the area of the prevention of drug addiction and coping with drug addicts, the speedy development of measures at all appropriate levels is essential; consider that such measures should take account of the work of the Council of Europe, in particular the Pompidou Group, the WHO and UNESCO;

Note that there are areas or regions in the Community with sufficiently similar socioeconomic and cultural characteristics to make possible exchanges of information or the implementation of coordinated action;

ASK THE COMMISSION, with the assistance of experts appointed by each Member State, in particular to:

- make an inventory of areas appropriate for experimenting with coordinated action,

-encourage the exchange of practical experience and promote the implementation of coordinated action between qualified persons and institutions active in the prevention of drug addiction and coping with drug addicts (treatment, social and occupational reintegration), in accordance with the methods set out in the Annex hereto,

-cooperate with the Council of Europe, in particular the Pompidou Group and the WHO, to extend the scope of such initiatives,

-report on the results of this work, assessing the contribution made by the Community to the development of national policies in this area and, where appropriate, including proposals to improve activities in the field.

ANNEX

PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS

I. Areas and actions

The areas adopted should be such as to enable a worthwhile contribution to be made to national and, where appropriate, multilateral activities.

The Commission will ensure a balanced geographical apportioning of the exchange areas throughout the Community, taking account of existing needs and working from criteria defined in conjunction with national experts.

These criteria could, by way of example, involve:

- economic phenomena (industrial restructuring areas),

-urbanization (recently built-up areas around large cities, run-down urban areas),

-population movements (areas of intense tourist activity, border areas, rural areas suffering from depopulation). The Commission might model its choices on existing projects such as those of the Rhine-Meuse-Mosel, Dublin-Glasgow-Berlin-Lille-Turin-Barcelona and Barcelona-Toulouse.

II. Topics

Exchanges or coordinated action will deal with the following topics:

- health data on drug addiction, including addictive abuse of medicines,

-information campaigns and campaigns to prevent drug use and abuse, and to prevent the behaviour associated with these,

-practice with regard to reception facilities, treatment and work on the streets,

-quality of care and assessment of methods,

-social and occupational reintegration of addicts,

-training of workers operating in this field.