On November 12-14, 2024, the 19th National Conference on the Problems of Drug Use Prevention was held in the city of Ruse. It was organised by the National Center for Public Health and Analyses, the Secretariat of the National Drugs Council and the Municipal Drugs Council – Ruse.
The forum was attended by nearly 80 experts in the field of drug prevention from all over the country.
The conference was opened by Mr Pencho Milkov, Mayor of Ruse Municipality, who emphasized that cooperation between institutions and the exchange of knowledge will help provide care and awareness for a future without addictions.
A congratulatory address was also read by the Minister of Health, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Silvi Kirilov.
The main focus of the meeting was on current good practices in the field of drug prevention, which are used by specialists from the prevention and information centres (PICs). Such practices were presented by the Ruse PIC (“Sport for a free life”) and the Razgrad PIC (“Volunteering brings happiness”). The Varna PIC presented its work on the prevention of vaping and nitrous oxide use. The Pazardzhik PIC and the Blagoevgrad PIC also presented their activities.
Valentina Marinova from the National Center of Public Health and Analyses (NCPHA) introduced the participants to the trends, guidelines and problems in the work of the prevention and information centres in 2024 based on the reports on the national programmes, the programmes for selective and indicated prevention, the realised campaigns in the field of drug use prevention. She emphasized the need to realise that prevention is a sequence and regularity of implementing prevention approaches, not a one-time activity.
Kremena Ioneva (Head of the Addictions Department at NCPHA) summarised the results of a survey of prevention and information centres on the implementation of the national programmes “Codes for Life” and “Peers to Peers”. Based on this, a discussion was held regarding the problems encountered by PICs in their implementation and the possibilities for changes to the programmes in the future.
Dr. Zahari Zarkov (Director of the Directorate “Mental Health and Prevention of Addictions” at NCPHA) introduced the conference participants to the trainings in the field of drugs and drug addiction, which are planned by the National Center of Public Health and Analyses next year and which would be useful for the experts from the PIC.
Aleksandar Panayotov (Head of the NFP at NCPHA) presented the opportunities for access to information at the regional level in the field of drugs and drug addiction, the situation regarding the evaluation of national prevention programmes and the upcoming winter and summer schools on drug topics, which will be organised by the EU Drugs Agency (EUDA) next year and in which representatives of the PIC will also be able to participate.
Slaveyka Nikolova (Secretary of the National Drugs Council) introduced the conference participants to information on the use of alcohol and drug glasses in prevention work, the development of the situation surrounding the National Drugs Strategy, which will have a new period of action (2026 – 2030), and recommendations for the preparation of annual and quarterly reports on the activities of the prevention and information centres.
The national conference ended with a lively discussion on the issues of prevention work, financing of activities and opportunities for strengthening efforts at the regional level to build sustainable mechanisms for prevention and support for vulnerable groups.
