United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime International Network of Drug Dependence Treatment and Rehabilitation Resource Centres: Treatnet

ABSTRACT

Key to the dissemination of evidence-based addiction treatments is the exchange of experiences and mutual support among treatment practitioners, as well as the availability of accurate addiction training materials and effective trainers. To address the shortage of such resources, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) created Treatnet, a network of 20 drug dependence treatment resource centers around the world. Treatnet's primary goal is to promote the use of effective addiction treatment practices. Phase I of this project included (1) selecting and establishing a network of geographically distributed centers; (2) conducting a capacity-building program consisting of a training needs assessment, development of training packages, and the training of 2 trainers per center in 1 content area each; and (3) creating good-practice documents. Data on the training activities conducted by the trainers during their first 6 months in the field are presented. Plans for Phase II of the Treatnet project are also discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Addiction training
• capacity building
• dissemination
• international

Declarations of interest: Dr. Richard Rawson is a consultant for Catalyst Pharma. Dr. Walter Ling has received funding from Hythiam, Inc., Reckitt-Benckiser, and U.S. Worldmed.

This project was implemented as United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Project GLO/H43: Treatnet. The project was funded by the UNODC, with financial support from the following donors: the governments of Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United States, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The authors also acknowledge the dedication and commitment of the focal points and Treatnet trainers of the 20 Treatnet resource centers and thank them for their excellent work. The trainers were Akinwande O. Akinhanmi, Adline Andrews, Graziella Barbosa Barreiros, Karen Elie Bekhazi, Dieter Carlsson, Hanhui Chen, Khaled El Siagy, Luis Fernando Giraldo Ferrer, Nael Moustafa Hassan Mohamed, Imisioluwa O. Ibikunle, Andrey Karpets, Harrison Maina Kihara, Moshe Kron, Claudia Liliana Mata Lozano, Setareh Mohsenifar, Hania Maria Nayeem, Parulian Sandy Noveria, Yuriy Rossinskiy, Daniel Ruseborn, Isabel Senabre Arolas, Alexandra Shishkova, Francisco Hernan Sierra Lopera, Jayasree Subramanian, Hamidreza Taherinakhost, Diah Setia Utami, Danny Martyn Van De Groes, Sarah Nyambura Wamunyu, Oleg Yussopov, and Min Zhao. Further, the authors thank Reychad Abdool, Rubi Blancas, Wim Buisman, Victor Capoccia, Ashita Mittal, Kamran Niaz, Signe Rotberga, Fariba Soltani, and Ambros Uchtenhagen for their assistance with various aspects of the program. Finally, the authors thank Kris Langabeer for her editorial expertise throughout the development of the Treatnet materials and manuscript.

Notes

*More information about the Treatnet resource centers is available at http://www.unodc.org/treatment/en/resource_centres.html.