June 26 is the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. This date was established by the UN General Assembly following the results of the International Conference on Combating Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in 1987 as a recognition of drug addiction as a global transnational problem, the fight against which requires systematic international cooperation, and as a sign of the intentions of the joint efforts of the world community to build a society where the use of drugs is limited exclusively for medical and scientific purposes.
In 2021, at the UN level, the theme of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in 2021 is the fight against misinformation and drug propaganda and the development of the exchange of facts and scientific materials on health risks and developments in the field of prevention and treatment of drug-related disorders. In Russia, the conditions for solving these tasks have been created at all levels: the Strategy of the state Anti-Drug Policy approved by the Presidential Decree is in effect. The basis of high-quality prevention is the high level of training of all specialists-organizers of thematic events and their competent interaction at the interdepartmental level. Kursk State Medical University and our region as a whole are ready to share positive experience and scientific developments. The university has developed thematic educational programs for advanced training, and studies are being conducted to assess the effectiveness of preventive measures. The issued manuals and recommendations are used in the implementation of numerous regional programs: “Your choice is your life”, “Cyber Patrol” and many others, are used at the international level by the community of young doctors and health care organizers of the BRICS countries. On the basis of the university, there is an expert council under the anti-drug commission of the Kursk region. There are more than 2000 specialists working in the region who have passed through joint educational projects of KSMU and the regional administration – this is 1 professional per 500-600 residents of the region, which is more than primary care doctors! The effectiveness of anti-drug work in the Kursk region, the scientific and methodological center of which is the KSMU, proves that in the Kursk region the number of drug addiction patients and drug users detected by the drug treatment service for the first time in 2014-2019 decreased by more than 4.5 times, and the proportion of young people aged 15 – 29 among new cases decreased from 64.1% to 31.9% over 5 years.
The pandemic of coronavirus infection around the world has sharpened humanity’s interest in health and healthcare problems. Against this background, we are conducting new research, the purpose of which is the further development of preventive work in new social conditions and the dissemination of scientifically based approaches through the training of all organizers of preventive programs – doctors, teachers and civil servants.
Timoshilov Vladimir Igorevich, Associate Professor of the Department of Public Health and Public Health