Drug Policy, Day 3, Track 2, 13:30-15:30

Presented as part of the Uniting the global community to face the challenge of addiction event, in-person on 14th May, 2022

Presentations:

• ETHOS: the small word that defines us - Phaedon Kaloterakis
• How investing in advocacy can improve the situation in the field of evidence-based prevention policy and practice - Matej Košir

Abstracts:

• ETHOS: the small word that defines us - Phaedon Kaloterakis

The word “ethos” in classical Greek means “home”, “the place where we belong”. In our profession, ethics is the most important element. It is the safe place, the “home” where we meet with the people we serve. From Hippocrates “first, do no harm” to today’s complicated challenges that the addiction field is facing, ethos is the one and foremost non- negotiable concept.

The presenter, by using practical examples from his vast international experience, will outline the most crucial dimensions of ethics in the areas of prevention, harm reduction and treatment.

• How investing in advocacy can improve the situation in the field of evidence-based prevention policy and practice - Matej Košir

Over the last decade, the Utrip Institute has invested heavily in improving advocacy knowledge and skills, and helping to create some successful advocacy coalitions, particularly in the areas of tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis policies. At the same time, the Utrip Institute paid great attention to the promotion of and advocacy for evidence-based prevention, especially regarding the implementation of UNODC/WHO International Standards on Drug Use Prevention and European Drug Prevention Quality Standards (EDPQS). Significant progress has been made in prevention policy and practice, the number of preventive interventions and trained programme providers has increased, and funding for prevention programmes and advocacy campaigns has increased as well. However, many challenges remain for the coming years, in particular in linking long-term and sustainable funding to the implementation of standards, improving the culture of monitoring and evaluation, and improving formal and non-formal forms of education and training for the preventive workforce. The authors will present the key results and good examples in the field of prevention in Slovenia in the last decade and the challenges for the future. The results will be presented by some collected quantitative and qualitative data and information from different national and international sources.