A newly designated WHO Collaborating Centre (CC) on Substance Use, Noncommunicable Disease and Policy Impact will focus on reducing substance use as a means of reducing the burden imposed by noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). The Subdirectorate General for Addictions, HIV, STIs and Viral Hepatitis (SGAVIH) is part of the Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Spain. It will support WHO/Europe’s Alcohol, Illicit Drugs and Prison Health Programme to develop reports on the relationship between alcohol and cancer in the WHO European Region, as well as training programmes for experts and young professionals and case studies, reports and support tools for countries requiring them.
As well as providing training and capacity-building, the CC will measure the impact and evaluate the cost–effectiveness of policies designed to reduce the burden of diseases related to alcohol and drug use. This follows decades of collaboration with WHO on transforming the health response to alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems.
“The designation of the SGAVIH as a WHO Collaborating Centre reinforces not only the work carried out over the past 3 decades, but also the joint work to come, steeped in trust, mutual respect and long-term understanding. The newly designated WHO Collaborating Centre will increase the capacity of WHO/Europe to respond to the most recent challenges in the Region in relation to substance use and make progress in improving public health policies at national, regional and global levels,” explained Dr Carina Ferreira-Borges, WHO Regional Adviser for Alcohol, Illicit Drugs and Prison Health at WHO/Europe.
A history of collaboration
The SGAVIH has worked with WHO on studies to model the impact of alcohol consumption on people’s health and to quantify mortality and morbidity due to alcohol consumption in the WHO European Region. The institution has carried out studies to estimate the number of cancers caused by relatively low levels of alcohol consumption in the European Union (EU), modelled the impact of increased alcohol taxes on the burden of disease across the entire WHO European Region and participated in the validation of alcohol screening tools.
In 1995, the SGAVIH joined a WHO project on alcohol in primary and community care. Since 2002, it has helped to implement this programme throughout Catalonia, making the autonomous community a benchmark for achievement in this field. In 2004, the partners jointly promoted the creation of the International Network on Brief Interventions for Alcohol & Other Drugs (INEBRIA). The SGAVIH also participated in over 30 European projects related to early identification and brief interventions on alcohol and other substances, covering diverse areas in various fields, including occupational health, premature ageing and harm reduction. The SGAVIH serves as Permanent Secretary of the Alcohol Policy Network Europe (APN), which aims to share experiences of alcohol-oriented public health policies and has more than 200 members across Europe.
“This recent appointment as a Collaborating Centre is, for us, a challenge and a great honour that I believe recognizes nearly 30 years of uninterrupted work at the regional, national and international levels. Our designation will be mutually beneficial due to the knowledge we generate in research and its translation into regular practice”, explained Dr Joan Colóm Ferran, Subdirector General of the SGAVIH.