Cyprus adopts new national drug strategy

The Council of Ministers approved the new national drug strategy for 2009-2012 during a meeting on Monday, Minister of Health Christos Patsalides announced.

In a statement after the meeting, Patsalides said the new strategy is a product of a very well thought out approach through investigations and studies conducted by Sorbonne and Hamburg professors, who evaluated the previous national strategy and its weaknesses, deficiencies and problems.

The Minister described the new national strategy as revised and much more targeted, aiming to put into practice a fundamental policy to address such a major problem.

Noting that in the new strategy great emphasis is given on better coordination, he added that in the previous strategy there was a lot of action without the necessary coordination.

The appointment of a coordinator who will coordinate and control these issues 24 hours a day is provided for by the new strategy, the Minister said.

In addition, he said that a coordinator, responsible for drug issues, will be appointed at each ministry so as to monitor that actions taken by all six ministries involved in the new national strategy are implemented.

The Minister said the new strategy attaches great importance to the issue of treatment.

The total cost of the new strategy exceeds 31 million euro, he concluded.