Strengthening Policy: Contributions to Philippine Government Initiatives
Despite rigorous preparations for the 3rd ISSUP National Conference, the Philippine Chapter continued to work with a number of government agencies to further improve the country’s legislation and policies in relation to substance use and mental health services.
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
A prime example was the Chapter’s participation last June - August, 2024 in the DSWD’s Writeshop Series on the development of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention Education (DAPE) Tool Kits. The expected outcomes of these writeshops are Tool Kits that outline age-appropriate approaches to drug use prevention among the youth. More specifically, four Tool Kits were each targeted toward Parents, Children (aged 12 and below), Early Adolescents (aged 13 -17), and Late Adolescents (aged 17 and above).
The Comprehensive DAPE Tool Kits that the DSWD shall finalize will be used in further preventive and educational initiatives to complement ongoing drug demand reduction efforts in the coming years.
Department of Health (DOH) & U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
The Chapter is also an active participant to the DOH and USAID RenewHealth Project’s development of an Integrated Mental, Neurological, and Substance Use (MNS) Capacity Development Framework; this initiative aims to harmonize international and local efforts, clearly define roles and competencies in delivering community-based mental health services, and evaluate existing programs to align with the resulting Framework.
Our voice was first heard as part of a workshop on the identification of competencies needed for MNS Capacity Development last April, 2024. Most recently, we attended the follow-up workshop on this last July, 2024. Here, we validate whether the identified competencies remained relevant, as well as recommend ways to streamline the DOH’s existing programs to suit these competencies.
Ultimately, the Framework is expected to address the manpower shortages and fragmented capacity development programs that are hindering the country’s ability to provide mental health services among our communities.
Department of Justice (DOJ) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Finally, the highlight of our activities for the 2nd and 3rd quarter of 2024 was our support and contribution to the Philippine Drug Policy and Law Reform Summit, an event held last July, 2024 and led by the DOJ and the UNODC. The Summit’s purpose was to gather voices from the various stakeholders across the Philippines that are involved in the Addiction Field and integrate these into legislation, whether as new policy or as amendments to existing laws.
The Chapter spent months as part of the Summit planning committee’s Technical Working Group, contributing its expertise in substance use treatment and mental health care; we ourselves oversaw matters relating to Intervention programs and Recovery services in preparing for the Summit.
On the days of the Summit itself, the Chapter represented the Medical and Recovering communities. The Summit further reinforced the Chapter’s plans to address stigmatization of drug use in the community among health care providers, law enforcement and law makers. We pledged to advocate for more comprehensive and integrated services for people who use drugs and people with drug use disorder, taking into context the social determinants of health.
*A recording of the Summit's proceedings may be accessed via the following links:
Day 1 Part 1: https://www.facebook.com/uplawofficial/videos/1634221160703223
Day 1 Part 2: https://www.facebook.com/uplawofficial/videos/442995601965988
Day 2: https://www.facebook.com/uplawofficial/videos/1155770599018090
Day 3 Part 1: https://www.facebook.com/uplawofficial/videos/1020645836737737
Day 3 Part 2: https://www.facebook.com/uplawofficial/videos/996068645166678
Future Plans for Vulnerable Populations
Our Chapter has also actively engaged in recent discussions in the ISSUP Asia National Chapters Meeting in Bali, Indonesia last August, 2024. With ISSUP Global’s and our fellow Regional Chapter’s guidance, we are able to realign our future direction with the ever-changing climate of the addiction field – our most relevant takeaway is our need to re-evaluate our approach, especially on Prevention; we need to be nuanced in our designs to reach not just the general public, but also a number of vulnerable populations (most especially the youth, women, and the LGBTQ+ communities).
With this focus formally recognized by the Chapter during the 3rd ISSUP Conference last October, 2024, we have begun inquiries and plans for initiatives that allow us to help make a difference in the lives of not just PWUDs and addiction professionals, but also those who have the most to lose from falling under the influence of substance use.
