OSCE co-organizes conference with Georgian, Abkhaz and Ossetian drug specialists

TBLISI, 1 October 2001 - From 26 to 28 September, the OSCE co-organized a conference on drug addiction for physicians-narcologists in Chakvi (Ajar Autonomous Republic), Georgia.

"This conference was a real proof that the process, which the OSCE Mission to Georgia has started a year ago, has become sustainable and dynamic", said Mihai Rosianu, representative of the OSCE Chairmanship, addressing the conference.

The conference addressed issues related to reducing harmful effects in the field of drug addiction. Boguslaw Habrat, a well-known international expert from Poland, gave a lecture on substitute therapies including methadone programs, to be timely introduced in order to prevent such grave diseases as aids, hepatitis B and C, as well as different forms of tuberculosis. The participants agreed that the attention should be focused on two main problems: full education of young people in schools, and substitute therapies as most effective and cheap method to deal with the problem.

Georgian, Abkhaz, South Ossetian drug specialists, as well as representatives of health authorities attended the event. The first meeting of narcologists of those sides - a training seminar - took place in Warsaw in December 2000. Follow-up meetings and consultations were held in Tbilisi, Tskhinvali and Sukhumi.

This event, which was jointly organized by the OSCE Mission to Georgia and the Georgian National Institute, is part of the OSCE Mission's civic diplomacy project. Its aim is to provide opportunities for professional groups to meet at regional levels in order to exchange experience and develop joint programs across conflict lines and national boundaries.

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For further information please contact the OSCE Mission to Georgia, tel. (+995 32) 98 99 04.