UNODC Continues to Support Capacity Building of National Trainer Teams Within the Advanced Level of the Universal Treatment Curriculum for Substance Use Disorders

A Regional three-day training for trainers (ToT) on Course 9 “Advanced Pharmacology and Substance Use Disorders” of the Advanced Level of the Universal Treatment Curriculum for Substance Use Disorders (UTC training package) was launched via online video conference platform on 16 November 2020.

The main purpose of the training was to prepare the team of national trainers who in the future will be able to independently train professionals, working in the field of drug dependence treatment and prevention. The training was conducted by highly qualified Regional Master Trainers of the International Center for Credentialing and Education of Addiction Professionals: Dr. Yuriy Rossinskiy (Kazakhstan) and Dr. Oleg Yussopov (Kazakhstan).

The participants of the training are practicing doctors and members of national teams of trainers from Kyrgyz Republic (9 participants), Tajikistan (5 participants) and Uzbekistan (10 participants), who hold credentials of International Certified Addiction Professionals Level One (ICAP I).

For three days the participants received up-to-date information on psychoactive substances, the science of addiction and medications for substance use disorders from the regional master trainers. The training was designed to provide the participants with comprehensive understanding of the pharmacology of psychoactive substances, in-depth knowledge of the neurochemical processes involved in the development of addiction, as well as an overview of the medications for treatment of Substance Use Disorders.

Dr. Borikhan Shaumarov, UNODC Regional Project Coordinator, noted, “The pandemic has put everyone under certain pressure, but we have no time to lose. We need to adapt to the “new norm”, we adapt the training modules to the online format, we try and use mixed formats wherever possible. We have one aim – to leave no one behind and provide the best possible support to those who need it, those who have to struggle with dependence. These teams of trainers will pass on the knowledge to the professionals working drug dependence across their countries.”

This training was organized within the framework of UNODC global project GLOJ71 “Treating drug dependence and its health consequences: Treatnet” with financial support from U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).