Macedonian project

CARDS Twinning project

National Institute for Drug Prevention was project manager of a complex drug programme (CARDS Twinning Project, FYROM 2003 IB JH 1) carried out in Macedonia in the period between April, 2006 and August, 2007. Our junior partner was Trimbos Institute from the Netherlands and we also cooperated with Hungarian institutes concerned drug problem. 58 different activities were carried out during the project, Hungarian and Dutch experts spent 484 workdays in Macedonia and met some 300 local experts, formed several workgroups.

The project had the following 5 priorities:

1. Drug policy and coordination

2. Development of data collection capacity

3. Allowing of efficient demand reduction programmes and techniques

4. Form of efficient supply reduction techniques and cooperation methods

5. Harmonizing medicine and precursor legislation to the European Union rules and initiating institutional rearrangement where needed.

For all experts participated in the project was a challenge to implement this multidimensional programme.

We can summarize the results of the project activities in the following points:

• creation of Macedonian national drug strategy have been finished,
• recommendations for the coordinator institutions and for their position in the national administration structure were made,
• government decree founding Macedonian drug focal point has been accepted,
• trainings and consultations were held to make more efficient the following fields:
• data collection
• community based demand reduction activities
• information and media campaign
• medicine licensing
• trade with precursors
• substance testing
• test from biological sample
• prevention of drug related crimes; investigation.