Conference: “Uniting the global community to face the challenges of drug addiction”

In 5 days, from May 12-16, 2022, the conference, “Uniting the global community to face the challenges of drug addiction”, took place in the capital city, Abu Dhabi, of United Arab Emirates. The conference was joined by more than 2000 participants who were the leading experts in the drug addiction treatment field coming from more than 100 countries around the world. Representatives of the Vietnam International Technology Transfer Center (V-ITTC) from Hanoi Medical University also attended and gave presentations at the conference.

Speaking at the conference on the second day (May 13, 2022), Dr. Nguyen Bich Diep, Ph.D., gave a introduction to the drug addiction treatment system in Vietnam as well as the training and research activities V-ITTC launched in 2021 in order to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, Dr. Diep shared the result of the study to assess the training needs of addiction treatment staff in Vietnam in 2021, which was the foundation for V-ITTC to develop training programs and workshops that could meet the actual needs of and improve the professional competence of personnel working in the field of drug addiction treatment.

Also, giving a presentation on the last day of the conference (May 16, 2022), Assoc. Prof. Le Minh Giang, Director of V-ITTC, Director of the V-ITTC, and Deputy Director of the Center for Training and Research on Substance Abuse – HIV, Hanoi Medical University, focused on the current situation of drug use in Vietnam, the challenges of addiction treatment with the appearance of new drugs, and some adaptative interventions including legal, administrative, and managing interventions that Vietnam had enacted to tackle and respond to these challenges. Furthermore, Prof. Giang emphasized the important need of arming personnel managing and supporting drug users in the community with practical knowledge and skills in drug addiction treatment counseling.

The annual conference is an opportunity for representatives coming from developing countries to share and exchange experiences related to drug addiction treatment with those from developed countries around the world.