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Situation of substance use among adolescents in Kyrgyzstan discussed at the workshop in Bishkek

09.02.2018

In Kyrgyzstan, a high proportion of adolescents aged 15-16 years reported the use of cannabis products (marijuana or hashish) and other psychoactive substances during a recent study. 3.3% of boys and 1.2% of girls admit that they have tried marijuana at least once in their life, 7.6% of boys and 4.1% of girls used inhalants.

These facts were revealed when conducting a questionnaire survey on a representative sample of pupils aged 15-16 years in all types of schools in Kyrgyzstan in 2017. It was based on the methodology of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD), which was implemented by the AIDS Foundation East-West in Kyrgyzstan. CADAP financed the implementation of the survey.

At the workshop, results of the survey and the situation of substance use among adolescents in Kyrgyzstan were presented. Also prevention and other interventions implemented or planned to address this issue were discussed by participants from the Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Internal Affairs together with the AIDS Foundation East-West in Kyrgyzstan and CADAP.

Since its start in 2001, prevention has been one of the main pillars of CADAP. The prevention activities have ever since focused on public awareness campaigns as well as trainings of journalists and prevention specialists at ministries. Now CADAP can boast of some figures that reveal the impact of its prevention efforts.

For instance, in Kyrgyzstan, the pilot project was implemented in 57 schools in four localities. In total, 65 instructors were prepared to train teachers and 750 teachers participated in the training. It is estimated that about 11 000 parents participated in the pilot programme. The implementation of the “Closer to each other-further from risky behaviour” prevention programme in several localities creates the basis for the preparation of a country-wide long-term implementation.

CADAP 6 represents continuity of the EU policy and long-term engagement with Central Asian partners to help further strengthen their national policies in drug policy and drug demand reduction.  The programme is funded by the European Union and implemented by a Consortium from the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Poland and Germany led by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

 

Category
Press releases
Location

Bishkek

Editorial sections
Kyrgyz Republic