The UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia organized a national training on "Quality Assurance of Drug Use Disorder Treatment Systems" in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, from 28 to 30 November 2022.

This capacity-building exercise was carried out within the framework of UNODC's global project GLOJ71 "Treatment of Drug Dependence and Its Health Consequences: Treatnet" in collaboration with Subprogramme 3: Addressing Drug Problems, Strengthening Treatment of Drug Use Disorders and HIV/AIDS Prevention of the UNODC Central Asia Programme for 2022-2025 and the Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Section, UNODC headquarters with financial support from the Bureau of International Drug Affairs and law enforcement agencies of the U.S. Department of State.

In his welcoming remarks, Mr. Borikhan Shaumarov, Senior Programme Officer of the UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia, stressed that drug dependence is a multifactorial health disorder that is often characterized by chronic course and relapses and represents a significant burden on affected individuals, their families and communities. He stressed that untreated drug use disorders entailed significant costs to society, including loss of productivity, increased health care costs, criminal justice and social welfare costs, and other social consequences.

"Providing effective treatment and care services for drug use disorders through an integrated and well-coordinated treatment system is a contribution to the health of people suffering from drug use disorders. It is also an investment in the healthy and safe development of families, communities and countries," said Mr. Borikhan Shaumarov.

The event brought together some 24 professionals and experts from all regions of Kyrgyzstan and aimed to support national stakeholders  in ensuring the quality of the system, drawing their attention to the problem of drug use and the treatment of drug use disorders, as well as developing evidence-based responses and building expertise in quality assurance of the service system and the treatment of disorders, related to drug use.

The participants of the training were specialists of institutions and departments responsible for ensuring the quality of services including representatives of the Department of Organization of Medical Care and Drug Policy of the Ministry of Health, members of the National Working Group on Ensuring the Quality of Drug Dependence Treatment Services, Heads and Coordinators of the Republican and Regional Centers of Psychiatry and Narcology, as well as employees of the Republican and Regional Fund for Compulsory Medical Care. Insurance.

The training was conducted by an international trainer of UNODC in an online format. Two national co-trainers from Kyrgyzstan assisted the lead trainer in conducting this training.

The online training reproduced the nature of participation in face-to-face training and included plenary presentations by the lead trainer, a series of group exercises with feedback and discussions in large groups at the plenary session. The capacity-building exercise focused on reviewing the standards of the national system and comparing the quality of the local system in line with the International Standards for the Treatment of Drug Use Disorders.

"I would like to note that the training is useful not only in terms of obtaining information about the "Key Quality Standards for The Evaluation of Services: Quality Assurance in the Treatment of Drug Use Disorders" (previous publication version), but also in terms of analyzing the structure of the entire system of treatment of drug use disorders. World experience shows that the quality of services should be not only at the level of a medical institution that provides assistance to people with substance use disorders, but also in the entire system of services. Many situational tasks gave participants the tools to assess the quality of services provided," said the Deputy Minister of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic at the official closing ceremony of the event.

According to her, "it became clear that these quality standards should be implemented not only in the drug dependence treatment system, but also in all services providing medical care for other diseases. I think it will be very useful to introduce these quality standards at the level of the Ministry of Health, first in relation to services for the treatment of substance use disorders, with further introduction into other medical services. "