Purpose
Basis of Work

Resources
	Drug Information for the Americas (Regional Page )
	Statistical Sumaries
	Referential Databases
	Links

epidemiologist to ensure solid technical management of a critical area.  He or she will be charged with ensuring that the research efforts remain focused on the policy and planning concerns of governments.  

1. Support development by governments of a national research capacity in the epidemiology of drug use

• The Observatory will provide training for national personnel in the collection, analysis and publication of data on drug use, using the SIDUC system. A revised SIDUC Manual and training materials will be completed by the summer of 2000.  In the Caribbean region, the Observatory will cooperate with a new CARIFORUM drug epidemiology project financed by the European Union, by providing SIDUC to the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC), and offering training in the system.

• On request, the Observatory will assist national research teams in setting up an ethics committee (sometimes called a Human Subjects Review Committee), to ensure that the privacy and dignity of people who participate in research studies is respected.  Generally, a prerequisite for obtaining an international research grant is that the research project should have been approved by the national research ethics committee.

• The Secretariat is actively seeking out international fellowship opportunities for drug epidemiologists from the region.

2.  Consolidate SIDUC in the Americas as a common methodology that is low-cost, able to be assumed by the national governments, and that provides timely data on a rapidly changing phenomenon

• In the first few months of 2000, the Observatory provided financial support to a number of member states to conduct one round of surveys of drug use in emergency rooms and one survey in drug treatment centers.  Each participating government officially designated its SIDUC coordinator. Data will be ready by summer 2000, in order to be included in the next Statistical Summary.

• The SIDUC questionnaires are being revised by an outside consultant, who will shortly recommend adjustments to help countries answer key MEM questions Nos.  16 (average age of first use of any illicit drug) and 17 (annual incidence of new drug users).  These recommendations will be reviewed by an advisory group, which will be asked to recommend a reliable survey method for these two MEM questions. An INTERNET-based chat room is being tested to allow the members of the advisory group to exchange views quickly and inexpensively about the questionnaires and methodological problems in advance of the meeting.

• The SIDUC high-school survey questionnaire will be piloted and validated for use in both English and Spanish.  The questionnaire will shortly be available in French and Portuguese.

• The Observatory will provide member states with financial support for surveys of drug use by high-school students, as a priority activity.

• The SIDUC software will be upgraded in 2000.

• Cooperate with the European Observatory on Drugs (EMCDDA) and with the United Nations International Drug Control Program (UNDCP) on the development of indicators of drug use that may be used in the simplification of the UN's Annual Reports Questionnaire (ARQ).

• Over the longer term, the goal is to investigate risk-factor profiles among specific populations, for application to drug abuse prevention and treatment interventions.

3. Improve and expand CICDAT

• The CICDAT software is now being improved to create a multi-user, INTERNET-based system.  This upgrade will allow member states to send their reports on line and consolidate data sets from various sources of statistics within the country.

• Technical work will be conducted to improve comparability of the data, and ensure that CICDAT is capable of providing statistics needed for the MEM. 

• Technical assistance missions will be provided to member states, on request, to advise on the improvement of statistical techniques, data gathering systems, presentation and analysis of data,  the structuring of a National Information System, and the use of statistical information in the analysis of the problem and in decision-making.

• A longer-term goal is to perfect methods of reporting or estimating illicit arms shipments, diversions of chemicals, and money laundering transactions.
  

4. Interpreting the data and using research findings

The intention of the Observatory is to provide senior government policy-makers with clear information and an analysis of the data produced around the hemisphere as a basis for setting priorities and enhancing national drug control programs.  An important area of the Observatory’s work will therefore be on identifying those data that are crucial to decision-making in demand reduction, supply reduction, and other areas; highlight those issues and areas in which more information is needed, and seek to explain the statistics to the general public and the media.

5. Support for national drug information systems

• Provide assistance to national drug commissions on building national drug information systems and web pages, and on on-line management of information, documentation and statistics. In 2000, additional computers and INTERNET connections are being donated to Central American and Caribbean governments.  This centerpiece is made possible thanks to grants from the Spanish Government and the European Commission.

• The Observatory’s new Regional Drug Web Site is now being tested.  National Drug Commissions and National Observatories are invited to provide links to their own Web sites.  

• INTERNET chat rooms will be set up for specialized interest groups working on a particular project. The first Observatory chat room will concern the improvements to the SIDUC questionnaires, and participants will be able to comment on the proposed changes, by e-mail, in advance of the meeting.  Chat rooms will be established for any kind of discussion; they are useful because they save considerable time and money, and allow for a written record of the conversations.

• The future of RETCOD/NDCs:  This CICAD project was set up in 1997, as part of an effort to help strengthen national drug commissions by providing them with computers, software and INTERNET connections.  The Secretariat believes that RETCOD/NDCs has fulfilled its purpose, in that the national commissions are now communicating with each other rapidly by e-mail, and are using the INTERNET as an ever more indispensable tool.  It is therefore being phased out as a stand-alone project.  As funds permit, the Observatory will continue to provide computer upgrades and INTERNET connections, and encourages national commissions to continue to exchange information among themselves by e-mail and through Web pages.

• An improvement on RETCOD is the Inter-American Observatory’s Web page.  Member states and the Observatory are encouraged to post short news bulletins in English and Spanish on latest research findings, and provide electronic links with other Web sites, so that CICAD delegates, national drug commissions, and GEG members can keep up to date. The Observatory will not send out news clippings of the day’s news, not wishing to duplicate the excellent service being provided by the national and international media.

6. Preparation of research proposals

The Observatory will prepare research proposals on different aspects of the drug issue, for submission to potential donors and scientific collaborators.