Regional Reitox Academy for IPA beneficiaries: Monitoring and reporting on drug related death
The Academy is organised in the framework of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) project `Preparation of IPA Beneficiaries for their participation in the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)`. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244/99) , Turkey and Serbia to establish at national level a drug information system compatible with the EMCDDA standards. In particular, the Academy will complement project activities aimed to fulfil following specific project objectives:
- To provide support for the establishment or strengthening of a national focal point and for its future integration in the Reitox network
- To involve the IPA Beneficiaries in the specific EMCDDA in the specific capacity building activities.
Since the Drug Related Death is one of the five key epidemiological indicators for monitoring drug situation in the European Union, it is essential that national experts in above mentioned countries are informed on the EMCDDA guidelines and European practices for collection and reporting reliable and comparable data on drug related death.
The Academy has following objectives:
- to explain the standard protocol for Drug related death data collection;
- to discuss the practices for drug related death data collection in Candidate and Potential Candidate Countries and propose steps how to align their drug related death monitoring practices with the standard protocol.
A total of 26 participants from the IPA Beneficiaries countries attended the Academy: one from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and 23 from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (the latter was the host country).