Community Prevention, Day 3, Track 1, 11:00-12:30

Demonstration and Evaluation of the Universal Prevention Curriculum –School-based Prevention Interventions and Policies - Dr. Fernando Salazar Silva
Awareness in a Caring Community: A Project of Capacity building and IEC campaign on Drug Use Prevention and Treatment in Tanzania - Dr. Harrieth Ndumwa
A Community Prevention Intervention to Reduce Drug Addiction - Obot Bassey

Abstracts:

Demonstration and Evaluation of the Universal Prevention Curriculum –School-based Prevention Interventions and Policies - Dr. Fernando Salazar Silva

Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness of training schoolteachers to implement evidence-based substance use prevention interventions in Peru, using the School-Based Universal Prevention Curriculum (UPC).

Rationale: There is lack of effective strategies implemented in Peruvian schools addressing the prevention of adolescent substance use and related risk behaviors.

Methodology: The study design involved 28 schools randomized to either intervention or control condition. Teachers at intervention schools received UPC training for implementing effective school policies; improving schools’ climate; and building and sustaining the organizational structure necessary to implement these strategies. Teachers were trained for administration of Unplugged, an evidence-based drug prevention program. Data were collected through four cross-sectional student surveys between May 2018 and November 2019.

Results: Findings showed statistically significant relative reductions in the likelihood of past year and past month smoking (20% and 33%, respectively). Students in the intervention group reported that fewer of their friends engaged in tobacco, alcohol, marijuana use. They also reported increases in school bonding and a greater awareness of school policies related to substance use.

Conclusion: This RCT provides evidence in support of UPC training as an effective means of disseminating prevention science concepts, skills, and practices to support the implementation of evidence-based interventions in school settings.

Awareness in a Caring Community: A Project of Capacity building and IEC campaign on Drug Use Prevention and Treatment in Tanzania - Dr. Harrieth Ndumwa

The Associazione ‘Casa Rosetta’ Italy, UNODC Implementing Partner, has carried out a project on Drug Use Prevention and Treatment in Tanzania, in the last 2 years, with the collaboration of INL and Colombo Plan.

“Casa Rosetta” organized a Basic Level UTC 1-8 series course and a course on Treatment in the Rural Setting in Tanga and Muheza. The courses were addressed to 50 professionals (social workers, doctors, psychologists, teachers, etc.) who had experience in drug prevention and treatment. The courses were held in Tanga in two separate sessions in October 2020 and January 2021. The sessions were destined for trainees from urban (Tanga) and rural (Muheza) areas. There were four UTC Master Trainers, all Tanzanians. A fifth Master Trainer from India, held remote training sessions for the trainees from ruralareasduringthesecondsession.

The trainees, together with the local project team and volunteers campaigned in Tanga City and Muheza to “deliver awareness-raising activities on drug use disorders and drug dependence throughout the territory. The first objective of the awareness-raising activities was to reduce the stigma which people with DUD problems have in their communities, raising awareness in the community and sustaining families who are experiencing this problem.”

This community campaign, called “Awareness in a Caring Community”, lasted more than six months from April 2021 to the beginning of October 2021, when it ended with a great march of more than six hundred students through the streets of Tanga and a concluding inter-school debate.

The awareness-raising activities took place in the marketplaces, schools, religious centers with counseling activities and with the distribution of gadgets and a continually updated campaign pamphlet, etc. Many stakeholders (CSOs) and regional and local, policymakers were involved in the project - organizing meetings to share theactivities of the campaign and the ensuing results. In all these outreach activities, we were helped by volunteers from the NGO based in Tanga, called ‘Hama’ belonging to the Norwegian organization TICC. More than 25,000 students were reached by the school campaign

A Community Prevention Intervention to Reduce Drug Addiction - Obot Bassey

Drug addiction by youths in Nigeria including harmful use of products, prescription drugs and over the counter drugs, constitutes a growing health challenge for Nigerians. Consequently, a single targeted approach to preventing drug addiction in a community is unlikely to be sufficient to minimize the youth population level.
Against this backdrop, the focus of this paper is on an innovative, comprehensive, community based prevention intervention. This paper builds upon three evidence based prevention interventions from the substance abuse field: Community mobilization, environmental strategies and school based prevention education intervention.

Drug addiction is more common is some families and likely involves genetic predisposition, mental health disorder, peer pressure, lack of family involvement, early use, taking a highly addicting drug.

This paper seeks to present an integrated community based prevention intervention for preventing the use of harmful legal products among youths based upon existing evidence based prevention programmes and strategies that have the potential to prevent youth addiction.

This will be addressed by a combination of prevention interventions contributing to the use of harmful products and associated negative consequences, social pressures from peers, parents and community which increase or decrease use of addiction products. It will also address cultural identities ,beliefs, attitudes and actions.