rp21 situational analysis - Pacific Health Voices

The development of any policy and programmatic
responses must first recognise the
unique circumstances of each PICT and avoid
the tendency to frame responses regionally
but still benefit from the support of regional
mechanisms. It must also take into account
the following factors:
• Alcohol, including both legally and illegally
produced homebrew, remains the key
drug of concern in the region.
• Cannabis remains the key illicit drug of
concern in the region.
• A balanced approach between law enforcement
and health service providers is absent
yet essential to effectively address the
range of substance use issues identified
in the region.
• The successful implementation of development
programs is at risk where substance
use issues remain unaddressed.
• International pressure to conform to treaties,
agreements and border control issues
has skewed the response to substance use
toward law enforcement without the concurrent
health interventions to deal with
the health and social consequences of
substance use.
• The success of cannabis crop eradication
and other supply reduction programs
will continue to be hampered by the fact
that it is not a labour-intensive or reliable
source of income for families facing
financial pressures in vulnerable economies
especially susceptible to international
market fluctuations.
Summary of
recommendations
Recognising the need for increased capacity
development, resource allocation, data collection
and analysis, a series of short-term
(6–12 months) and long-term (2–7 years)
recommendations have been developed. For
each set of recommendations, the three focus
areas are: surveillance; research; and response
development. In the immediate future the
recommendations propose that existing data
sources and skills sets be adapted as a platform
for increasing knowledge and skills,
filling data gaps and building a strategic and
longer-term program of work in the areas of
surveillance, research and service delivery in
the alcohol and other drugs sector.
In the medium to longer term it is recommended
that an approach similar to that for
HIV and non-communicable diseases (NCD)
programming in the region be developed.
This would entail the development of a regionally
endorsed multi-sectoral framework
for responding to alcohol and other drug
issues in the region. A framework of this
type would act as a guide for the development
of coordinated national level responses
tailored to the local context and responding
to substance use primarily among the
key drugs of concern. Such an approach
should seek to utilise the current skills and
experience of both government and nongovernment
agencies already identified as
working to address these issues in order to
avoid replication and any drain on finite resources.
In addition, it should include a commitment
to ongoing capacity building and
professional development among this existing
workforce.
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Executive summary