DUSHANBE, December 23, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- A regular meeting of the Coordination Council for Drug Abuse Prevention was held in the Drug Control Agency (DCA) head office in Dushanbe on December 22.

The meeting participants included representatives of relevant governmental institutions, including the ministries of health, labor, education, culture and justice as well as the committees for youth and family affairs.  Representatives from the UNODC Dushanbe Office, Tajik Branch of Open Institute/Assistance Foundation (OSI/AF-Tajikistan), BOMCA/CADAP and some other international organizations active in the country also took part at the meeting, according to the DCA press service.

The meeting considered the results of work on preventing drug abuse, carried out in accordance with the Council’s plan for 2009.  The meeting participants, in particular, discussed the progress of implementation of the MEDISSA sub-project of the EU-UDP CADAP assistance program.

National public awareness campaigns were organized in four Central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan -, within the framework of “Drug abuse prevention campaign with the media” (MEDISSA) sub-project.

The meeting participants made a number of suggestions on drug abuse prevention measures and strengthening of the Council’s activity in 2010.