– Press Release – Ministry of Health to Host Historic 5th Meeting of the Directors of National Drug Council – The National Drug Abuse Control Council (NDACC), Ministry of Health will be hosting the 5th Meeting of the Directors of National Drug Council on 3rd and 4th May 2012 at the Radisson Fort Gorge Hotel and Marina, Belize City, Belize.
This annual regional gathering brings together 20 Directors of Drug Councils of both Member States and Associated Member States of Caricom to discuss the Caribbean strategies to reduce the demand and supply of illicit drugs in the various countries action plan.
Specific objectives of this meeting will include among others, improving treatment and expanding access to care for substance use disorders, Psycho-Social cost of substance addiction, funding options for the Regional Drug Demand Reduction Strategy and sustainability of the Technical Advisory Board as a regional system.
The meeting will be held under the theme: Building Human Resources in Drug Demand Reduction for Sustainable Development and it is considered a historic meeting and especially so for the Ministry of Heath of Belize because for the first time; this meeting is being held outside of the Caricom Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana. The media is invited to attend the opening ceremony on May 3, 2012, starting at 9a.m. at the Radisson Hotel.
In 2001, a framework for Drug Demand Reduction was developed and later endorsed at a meeting by the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) in Guyana. The framework was received and updated at the 1st Meeting of the Directors of National Drug Council held in November 2005 in Jamaica. At that meeting, a Technical Advisory Body was established to provide oversight and also to advance the work to reduce illicit drugs in the region.
