Scientists and researchers from both sides of the Atlantic converged on Cape Town on Tuesday for the start of a three-day conference looking at commonalties in the drug abuse problem in the United States and southern Africa, the organisers said in a statement.
The conference, with the theme Prevention, Treatment and Care, is being held at the Table Bay hotel and is co-hosted by the Medical Research Council of South Africa and the United States’ National Institute on Drug Abuse.
According to the statement, the conference aimed to:
continue to build the infrastructure for conducting drug abuse research within Southern Africa through expanded collaboration and networking with United States investigators;
develop a research agenda to inform and make scientific advancements in drug abuse research aimed at reducing drug abuse/addiction and its associated adverse behavioural, social, and health consequences in the US and southern Africa;
identify the commonalties in the drug abuse problem on both sides and identify the scientific contributions and public health gains to be achieved through this collaboration;
develop strategies for bridging science and practice; and
enhance the capacity of researchers from varying racial/ethnic groups to contribute to the advancement of drug abuse research to develop modules that will be appropriate for conducting research in southern Africa and the US. – Sapa