Ministry of Health, recently held a meeting with stakeholders on drug demand and supply reduction.

The gathering, at Ocean View International Hotel, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, was to discuss the establishment of a drug abuse surveillance network in this country and those involved included private individuals as well as agencies.

Guyana Police Force, Guyana Defence Force, Ministry of Home Affairs, Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), Guyana Prison Service, Ministry of Education, Salvation Army and the Food and Drug Departrment were all represented.

A release said resource persons were drawn from the Drug Abuse Epidemiology Surveillance Systems Projects (DAESSP) and Caribbean Information Network and the objectives were:

* to sensitise stakeholders to the regional DAESSP and the Caribbean DrugInformation Network (CARIDIN);

* to discuss the establishment of a national drug abuse Network and

* to develop instruments for assisting with data collection related to substance abuse.

The release said the DAESSP was approved in late 1999, under the eighth European Development Fund (EDF) Caribbean Regional Indicative Programme.

The financing agreement for the two-year scheme was signed by the Secretariat of the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM) and the European Commission (EC) in January 2000.

The overall aim is to strengthen the capacity of CARIFORUM governments, technical entities and regional agencies to respond to changing drug abuse patterns and trends.

Specifically, the goal is to establish a sound database and early warning surveillance system to help national and regional policy makers in demand reduction.