ISSN 1831-4090 Aual Work Programme 2015
Cotets 3 I. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF KEY OUTPUTS 8 Key outputs to be published i 2015 ad their iteded audiece 9 II. MAIN AREAS OF WORK IN 2015 9 Moitorig ad reportig o the drugs problem i Europe 9 II.1. Data collectio, aalysis ad quality assurace 11 II.2. Moitorig ad uderstadig drug use ad problems: key idicators ad epidemiology 13 II.3. Moitorig demad reductio resposes applied to drug-related problems 15 II.4. Moitorig drug supply ad supply reductio itervetios 17 II.5. Moitorig ew treds ad developmets ad assessig the risks of ew substaces 19 II.6. Improvig Europe s capacity to moitor ad evaluate policies 20 II.7. Scietific coordiatio, research ad cotet support 23 Cooperatio ad collaboratio with key parters 23 II.8. Cooperatio ad collaboratio with key parters 26 Supportig the achievemet of results 26 II.9. Commuicatig the EMCDDA s fidigs to exteral audieces 29 II.10. Goverace, maagemet ad etworks 32 Support to operatios 32 II.11. Admiistratio: supportig core busiess 34 II.12. Iformatio ad commuicatio techology (ICT) 36 ANNEXES 36 Aex I: Potetial risk factors 38 Aex II: Estimated budget allocatio for the implemetatio of the 2015 EMCDDA Work Programme 42 Aex III: Key performace idicators (KPIs) 49 Aex IV: List of procuremets 50 Aex V: List of the beeficiaries of Reitox grats (atioal focal poits) 51 Aex VI: Template of the 2015 Reitox grat agreemet 52 List of abbreviatios ad acroyms 2 / 53
I. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF KEY OUTPUTS I Overview The Europea Moitorig Cetre for Drugs ad Drug Addictio (EMCDDA) s aual work programme for 2015 will take forward the twi objectives of esurig that the commitmets detailed i the three-year strategy for the period 2013 15 are realised, whilst also layig the foudatios for the agecy to cotiue to successfully take forward its work i the 2016 18 period. The fiacial resources required for this work programme will be provided by the EMCDDA budget allocatio for 2015. The budget becomes defiitive whe adopted by the Maagemet Board ad after fial adoptio of the geeral budget of the Europea Uio (EU), where the amout of the agecy s subsidy will be detailed. For plaig purposes the 2015 work programme has bee drafted based o the parameters of the 2015 EMCDDA prelimiary draft budget adopted by the Maagemet Board i December 2013. This versio of the budget foresaw a subsidy of EUR 15 447 000 for the EMCDDA. However, the fial amout of the EU subsidy grated to the EMCDDA by the EU budget authority is EUR 14 794 000. The correspodig adjustmets are made i the documet, icludig the distributio of budget expediture across the mai areas of activities. Furthermore, it is clear that the curret three-year work programme has bee implemeted uder challegig coditios. The fiacial situatio has egatively impacted o data collectio i some Member States ad o the resources available to the Reitox etwork of atioal focal poits (NFPs). The budget allocated to the agecy i 2014 was also less tha aticipated, at a time whe the demads ad expectatios placed o the agecy have bee growig. The EMCDDA has had to review carefully its programmig, ad as a result some activities have ecessarily become less ambitious, have bee delayed or i some cases have bee dropped. Staff resources have also bee reduced, ad some iteral readjustmet withi the scietific divisio has bee ecessary to esure a best match betwee resources ad priority eeds. Despite this, however, the agecy is pleased to ote that the mai commitmets of the 2013 15 strategy have bee safeguarded ad that its core strategic objectives to improve the value ad usefuless of its outputs remai o track. The agecy therefore presets the 2015 work programme cofidet i the fact that it is both realistic ad forward lookig, ad optimistic that it ot oly esures the delivery of existig commitmets but also lays the ecessary groudwork for the agecy to cotiue to improve its performace as the cetral referece poit for drugs iformatio withi the EU. I Focusig o core tasks: Prioritisig activities i 2015 Difficult times do require difficult choices to be made. The EMCDDA s madate is a broad oe ad its work programmes have always bee correspodigly ambitious. It must be recogised, however, that, give the icreasig demads o the performace of the agecy ad the realities of the resources available, priority must be give to those activities that are core to the EMCDDA s madate ad provide most value for its stakeholders. A prioritisatio exercise was carried out i 2014 to esure that core tasks were protected. Some activities were scaled dow or dropped ad all areas icluded i the work programme were rated ad give differetial priority. This approach has bee repeated durig the preparatio of the curret work programme. Moreover, the total umber of evisaged outputs has bee reduced, to allow priority to be give to esurig the quality of its core products. The EMCDDA has bee aided i this task by the fact that its curret three-year strategy is firmly grouded i its Regulatio, ad this provides explicit clarity o the priorities for the agecy to pursue. The curret strategy is built aroud five thematic areas that reflect the mai areas for data collectio ad reportig. Together, these cover the agecy s core tasks ad also provide the coceptual buildig blocks eeded to assemble a comprehesive uderstadig of the Europea drug pheomeo. They directly reflect the priorities areas outlied i the EMCDDA s recast Regulatio, which are: a) moitorig the state of the drug problem, i particular usig epidemiological idicators, ad moitorig emergig treds; b) moitorig the solutios applied to drug-related problems, providig iformatio o best practices i the Member States ad facilitatig iformatio exchage amog them; c) assessig the risks of ew psychoactive substaces ad maitaiig a rapid iformatio system; d) developig tools ad istrumets to help Member States to moitor ad evaluate their atioal policies, ad the Europea Commissio (EC) to moitor ad evaluate EU policies. 3 / 53
Exteral evaluatio ad stakeholder cosultatio also support the wisdom of maitaiig focus o these fudametal tasks. Two caveats are importat here, however, as they require the EMCDDA to modify its visio i order to reflect cotemporary eeds. Supply reductio activities have always bee a explicit part of the EMCDDA s historical madate to comprehesively moitor the drug situatio. However, the eed to scale up the moitorig of supply-side issues has become icreasigly recogised ad this is reflected i the curret trieial work programme. The EMCDDA, together with Europol, is also etrusted with implemetig the EU Early Warig System (EWS) o ew psychoactive substaces (NPS) ad is obliged to respod to the emergece of potetially harmful substaces. The importace of this work has bee growig as the scale of the problem has icreased. This is evideced by the escalatio i the past few years of the umber of ew drugs appearig o the market: 81 NPS were otified i 2013 (the last year for which complete data were available at the time of draftig this work programme), which is a 100 % icrease compared to 2010 (whe 41 NPS were otified). Alarmigly, i 2014 the Coucil of the Europea Uio requested six risk assessmets of ew psychoactive substaces, a record high. Should this tred cotiue, ad i view of the ivestmets already ecessary for the adaptatio of the EWS tools, especially the Europea Database o New Drugs (EDND), the agecy might be at risk of ot beig able to comply with its legal obligatios cocerig the implemetatio of Coucil Decisio 2005/387/JHA or of the ew legislative framework replacig it, should this eter ito force by the ed of 2015. Followig the approach itroduced i the 2014 work programme, i drawig up this work programme all proposed activities have bee classified across three levels: L1, L2 ad L3. L1: These are defied as must do tasks that are idispesable i order for the agecy to fulfil its miimum istitutioal obligatios. These are core tasks related to the aual productio of its mai outputs, legal obligatios (such as those arisig from the recast Regulatio, Coucil Decisio ad the EU pharmacovigilace legislatio) or tasks ecessary to esure that reportig tools ad processes remai fit for purpose. L1 also applies to ecessary istitutioal ad support activities, icludig support to the EMCDDA s statutory bodies, ad orgaisatio of the statutory meetigs, productio of the istitutioal publicatios ad maagemet tasks. L2: These are core tasks that are ecessary to achieve key commitmets set out i the three-year work programme. Most of these tasks are so itegrated with L1 activities that separatig them out would ot make sese i terms of the costs versus beefits of pursuig them. A L2 gradig is also give whe activities commeced i previous years are so advaced that the bulk of resources required have already bee ivested ad so it would ot be cost effective to leave them ucompleted. L3: These activities are importat for the agecy s madate but i the evet of further resource costraits they ca potetially be removed, scaled dow or postpoed without sigificatly impactig o the agecy deliverig its miimum istitutioal obligatios i 2015 (i.e. L1 activities). The target for the EMCDDA is to achieve 100 % of the L1 activities, a miimum of 70 % of the L2 activities ad a miimum of 40 % of the L3 activities (see Aex III, key performace idicator 10.2.1.). I Pursuig top-level commitmets highlights of the EMCDDA s work i 2015 The work of the EMCDDA i 2015 will cotiue to focus o esurig maximum value is achieved from the ivestmets made, ad that the commitmets set i the 2013 15 strategy ad work programme are fulfilled. A top-level commitmet is to provide a relevat, timely ad resposive aalysis of the drug situatio. Ehacig the coherece of the overall reportig system is key to achievig that. This is a major udertakig for the EMCDDA that started i 2011 with a top-level review of tools. A core compoet of the project is the revisio of the atioal reportig system, i close coordiatio with the NFPs. The revisio also eeds to respod to the dimiishig reportig capacity at Member State level, ad reduced huma ad fiacial resources at the disposal of the EMCDDA. This became a critical issue i 2014 followig the uexpected reductio i the EU subsidy to the EMCDDA by some 5 %. Oe of the cosequeces of this decrease was the reductio i the EMCDDA s co-fiacig of the Reitox NFPs. I view of these developmets, the agecy bega to revise the atioal reportig system i collaboratio with the NFPs, with the aim of improvig the coherece of its data collectio system. The implemetatio of the revised system will begi i 2015. Aother core compoet is developig the quality assurace framework for the processes ad statistical procedures used. Work i this importat area is carried out withi a cross-uit project (CUP) set up i 2013. A importat task will be the implemetatio of the EMCDDA s Statistics Code of Practice, further to its adoptio by the Maagemet Board i 2014. I terms of timeliess, the release of the Europea Drug Report (EDR) package, comprisig the publicatios Treds ad developmets, Perspectives o drugs (PODs), Europea Drug Report: Data ad statistics (Statistical bulleti) ad 4 / 53
Coutry overviews plaed for the ed of May 2015 will esure EMCDDA results are dissemiated i a timely maer. Resposiveess is key to the EMCDDA s work, ad a core activity i this regard is the implemetatio of the EU Early Warig System o NPS. As has bee metioed, this area has witessed a extremely dyamic evolutio i recet years due to the huge icrease i the umber of ew drugs appearig o the market; i additio, icreased public health cocers have bee geerated by the NPS otified recetly, which led to a icrease i the umber of risk assessmet (RA) exercises that had to be carried out by the exteded EMCDDA Scietific Committee (six RAs were carried out i 2014 aloe, compared to three durig the period 2010 13). I 2015 the EMCDDA will cotiue to implemet the EWS i collaboratio with its parters. A key elemet will be a redefiitio of the EDND, a critically importat tool that stores all the iformatio cocerig the NPS moitored to date. This will require importat ivestmets from the agecy, which will be made depedig o the resources available to the EMCDDA i 2015. Resposiveess was also eeded i the face of HIV outbreaks i Greece ad Romaia, which were documeted i the joit EMCDDA Europea Cetre for Disease Prevetio ad Cotrol (ECDC) RAs i 2011 ad 2013. At the request of the atioal govermets, the two agecies provided advice ad support, i order to share best practice experieces o moitorig ad respodig to the risk of HIV amog people who iject drugs (PWID). The EMCDDA will cotiue to provide up-to-date iformatio ad threat aalyses of ifectious disease amogst PWID ad related resposes i Europe based o the existig reportig tools ad experts etworks, ad i close collaboratio with ECDC. Idetifyig ad reportig o emergig treds more rapidly is also part of this top-level commitmet. A priority itervetio i the 2013 15 work programme is explorig the potetial of wastewater as a idicator to estimate populatio drug cosumptio. With the POD o wastewater released i 2014, the EMCDDA demostrated that the tool has the potetial to provide timely iformatio i short time frames o geographical ad temporal treds. I 2015 the agecy will take forward the work i this area by further developig relatios with the wastewater data providers ad by fialisig the techical proposal itegratig wastewater aalysis i routie drug moitorig. The EMCDDA will also publish a update of its 2008 Isights o assessig illicit drugs i wastewater. Give the rapid developmets i the field, the updated Isights o wastewater will iclude the most recet cotributios ad fidigs published sice 2007. The EMCDDA is also highly committed to further icreasig its efficiecy. I a eviromet of fixed, or eve decliig, resources, this meas that every aspect of its work has to be iformed by a eed to gai efficiecy ad derive maximum value from the efforts made. A core elemet to achievig this top-level commitmet is ratioalisig processes so that the most productive activities are give priority. Prioritisatio has always bee part of the EMCDDA plaig; however, i 2014 it became icreasigly visible i the agecy s aual work programme, ad this approach is beig take forward by this 2015 programmig documet. Furthermore, buildig o the progress achieved i 2013 ad 2014, the EMCDDA will implemet a improved quality assurace framework for its key busiess processes. A importat elemet will be the overall quality cotrol framework for scietific publicatios; formalised i 2014, this will be fully operatioal i 2015. It sets out the procedures for iteral coordiatio, quality cotrol processes ad iteral ad exteral peer-review mechaisms for products. Moreover, it is aticipated that a ew model for total data quality assurace maagemet will be completed i 2015 as part of the quality assurace CUP. Esurig maximum value obtaied from the techical meetigs held at the EMCDDA is aother iitiative iteded to cotribute to efficiecy gais. As part of this iitiative, implemetatio of a ew cocept for the aual key epidemiological idicators expert meetigs bega i 2013, ad this will be fully operatioal i 2015. It promotes crossidicator aalysis, better itegratio of situatio ad resposes, ad idetificatio of treds. Additioally, all the big scietific meetigs held by the EMCDDA will be orgaised ad assessed i lie with a set of quality stadards. This will cotribute to icreasig quality while makig best use of resources ivested. Icreasig the availability of tools ad cocepts to improve data collectio mechaisms is also part of the effort to maximise the value of EU drug moitorig. This is a key elemet of the work carried out by the agecy i the areas of drug markets, drug-related crime ad drug supply reductio. Buildig o progress achieved i 2013 14, the EMCDDA will cotiue the activities i this area i cosultatio with Europol. Amog other developmets, this will lead to the fialisatio of the revised reportig istrumets o seizures ad o drug law offeces, followed by their submissio for edorsemet by the Member States (Reitox NFPs), ad of the revised reportig istrumets o drug productio facilities, for pilotig by Europol. Further progress is resource-depedet although the agecy is fully committed to scalig up the work i this area, the reductio i the subsidy to the EMCDDA i 2014 had a egative impact o the achievemet of the results plaed i the 2014 work programme, which will place a heavy burde o the accomplishmet of the key results committed to i the 2013 15 work programme. 5 / 53
Aother example of maximisig value is the EMCDDA treatmet strategy followig the itegratio of the tool ito the 2014 data collectio exercise, it is expected that i 2015 aroud half of the EMCDDA reportig coutries (28 Member States, Norway ad Turkey) will provide improved estimates of the total umber of people i treatmet. This will cotribute to a better quality of iformatio o the total umber of drug users i treatmet i Europe, which will support soud policy coclusios at both atioal ad EU levels. Also i the area of resposes, ad of equal importace, is the work to idetify good practice ad dissemiate kowledge of effective actios so that maximum value ca be derived from the existig Europea database. As has bee metioed, this is also a priority outlied i the EMCDDA s recast regulatio. I 2015 the agecy will cotiue to develop the Best practice portal (BPP), which is a key Europea resource tool created by the agecy to dissemiate the latest scietific evidece of high-quality itervetios. This will iclude the additio of ew reviews of evidece, ad improvemets to the tool s fuctioality ad usability. Pursuig parterships ad buildig syergies are key factors i maitaiig efficiecy. Istitutioal ad techical cooperatio will be further stregtheed with EC services, ad with other EU bodies. Particularly relevat to this area is cooperatio with the Europea Maritime Safety Agecy (EMSA). Buildig o the agreemet i force betwee the EMCDDA ad EMSA to share the use of commo areas i the buildig where the headquarters of the two agecies are situated, further opportuities for syergies have bee developed i a commo effort to proactively exploit the opportuities provided by geographical proximity, while safeguardig the autoomous legal persoality ad capacity assiged to each agecy by the EU legislator. This developmet will cotiue i 2015, icludig joit procuremet of shared services, orgaisatio of staff traiig activities of commo iterest, ad sharig some services/bodies. Further syergies are also plaed i the area of ICT, icludig sharig ifrastructures ad costs for telecommuicatios ad Iteret-based services, ad busiess cotiuity solutios. Efficiecy will also be pursued through developig the performace maagemet system of the agecy. As part of this system, key performace idicators (KPIs) have bee defied for all the mai areas of work ad their achievemet will be moitored durig the year. I additio, the dedicated maagemet iformatio system whose developmet started i 2014 will ow eter the implemetatio phase. This will also support fiacial plaig, with a view to facilitatig the effective implemetatio of the 2015 budget ad maitaiig the outstadig budget executio rates that the EMCDDA has maaged to achieve over the past few years. Oe of the most importat top-level commitmets of the agecy for the curret three-year work programme is to commuicatio ad a customer-orieted approach. This will be guided by the itegrated commuicatio strategy adopted i 2012. The key priority for 2013 15 i this area has bee the developmet of the EMCDDA s website, icludig a comprehesive ad itegrated set of tools ad resources. Work doe over the past two years to overhaul the EMCDDA s olie presece will deliver a more dyamic website with ehaced iterlikig. Plaed cotet developmets iclude a ratioalised set of coutry products ad a sigificatly exteded topics sectio. The Europea Drug Report: Data ad statistics (Statistical bulleti) area will have a improved web iterface ad improved documetatio of methods. As a iformatio agecy, maximisig the impact for its customers is the ultimate goal of the EMCDDA. A key elemet i 2015 will be the implemetatio of the EMCDDA s audiece egagemet strategy. Social media ad targeted electroic updates will be used to ehace commuicatio ad dialogue with stakeholders ad target groups. Providig traiig is oe way of iformig experts at differet levels of the agecy s fidigs ad results. I 2015 the EMCDDA will take forward its work o the implemetatio of its traiig strategy, buildig o the experieces acquired from academic traiig activities, capacity-buildig projects ad other iitiatives. E-learig ad web-based traiig are also importat elemets i future kowledge traslatio activities, ad i 2015 the EMCDDA will lauch its first set of olie traiig modules based o its ew traiig strategy. These will allow the agecy to build over time a olie hub for kowledge trasfer of mai data collectio areas ad substative themes covered by the EMCDDA s work. This will add value to traiig activities, esure quality of delivery ad avoid duplicatio of efforts, by groudig traiig aroud a itegrated set of olie tools ad liked resources. Activities i the area of iteratioal cooperatio i 2015 will focus o two mai compoets: makig available the iformatio o the drug situatio i o-eu coutries that has bee produced by regioal EU-fuded cooperatio programmes followig EMCDDA stadards ad methodologies (Cooperatio Programme betwee Lati America ad the EU o Drugs Policies (COPOLAD), Cetral Asia Drug Actio Programme (CADAP)); ad developig expertise ad moitorig capacity i cadidate, potetial cadidate ad eighbourig coutries (through the Istrumet for Pre-Accessio Assistace (IPA) ad the Europea Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) projects). Egagemet with the scietific commuity is a importat task for the EMCDDA ad the agecy cotributes as attedees at ad o the orgaisig committees (where appropriate ad where resources are available) of various 6 / 53
major Europea ad iteratioal scietific cofereces ad techical meetigs. Participatio is evisaged i a umber of evets i 2015, icludig cofereces o the developmets i drug treatmet, NPS, ad addictio scieces. Oe of these evets will be the 2015 Lisbo Addictios coferece, for which the EMCDDA will provide scietific support. New products addressig critical aspects of the Europea drug situatio will be released. Four Isights publicatios, i-depth topical reviews, will be published i 2015. A Isights publicatio o hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatmet will review the evidece o HCV ativiral treatmet as a effective approach to reducig the prevalece of HCV amogst PWID. A secod Isights publicatio, o psychiatric co-morbidities, will provide a overview of the problem i Europea coutries ad a descriptio of the most effective treatmets ad practices i treatig patiets. As previously metioed, the EMCDDA will also publish a update of its 2008 Isights, Assessig illicit drugs i wastewater: potetial ad limitatios of a ew moitorig approach. Fially, a Isights o Iteret ad drug markets will be also lauched i 2015. Followig up o the tred-spotter meetig orgaised by the EMCDDA i October 2014, the ew publicatio aims to icrease uderstadig of the latest treds i the way the Iteret is beig used to facilitate the supply of illicit drugs, icludig the olie sale of medicies ad so-called legal highs. This is a rapidly growig area ad is of high iterest for the work of the EMCDDA (ad whose stregtheig was also recommeded by key stakeholders ad parters). Work o aother key publicatio, the secod EMCDDA Europol EU drug markets report: a strategic aalysis, will also be carried out durig 2015. The first report (published i 2013) was widely recogised as providig a major cotributio both to uderstadig drug supply ad to defiig priorities for policymakers ad law-eforcemet officials at atioal ad EU levels. Buildig o their previous successful collaboratio, the EMCDDA ad Europol will publish a ew editio of the report i 2016. The EMCDDA 2013 15 strategy ad work programme aticipated that a umber of key outputs/results would be achieved by the ed of 2015. This pla was based o the resource estimates that were available whe documet was prepared, ad it has bee reviewed i the light of the curret fiacial situatio. As a cosequece, as idicated i the 2014 work programme, several key outputs will o loger be produced, icludig oe Isights o drugs ad priso ad accompayig guidelies, ad two Moographs o drug policy ad drug prevetio. This reductio i resources was accompaied by the eed to icrease ivestmet i some critical ad rapidly evolvig areas, such as the moitorig of ew drugs. Furthermore, the huma resources costraits became eve more sigificat i 2014 followig the departure or temporary absece of some key staff. Cosequetly, work had to be scaled dow i some areas, i order to accommodate these restrictios. Oe of the areas affected is prevetio, where several key results will o loger be achieved. I Structure of the work programme This work programme mirrors the structure of the EMCDDA 2013 15 strategy ad work programme. For each of the twelve mai areas, detailed activities ad expected outputs/ results are described that will cotribute to the achievemet of the specific objectives ad goals listed i the three-year strategic documet. This follows the approach itroduced i the 2013 work programme, to esure cotiuity i the agecy s multi-aual plaig ad to facilitate the moitorig of results. As with the previous work programme, activities are raked across three priority levels (see above). This respods to the eed to adjust the work to potetial further resource costraits ad is i lie with the recommedatios formulated by the EMCDDA s Maagemet Board ad by the agecy s Scietific Committee. Furthermore, i lie with the actio pla edorsed by the Maagemet Board i 2013, the 2015 work programme sets out key performace idicators (KPIs) for all the mai areas of work (see Aex III). 7 / 53
Key outputs to be published i 2015 ad their iteded audiece Output Target audieces Policy Sciece Practice Citize Aual reportig Europea Drug Report package: 3 3 3 3 Treds ad developmets (prited, PDF, 23 laguages) Perspectives o drugs (olie, PDF, EN) Europea Drug Report: Data ad statistics (Statistical bulleti) (olie, EN) Coutry overviews (olie, EN) Iteractive applicatio (app, EN) Press otes (23 laguages) EMCDDA olie Ogoig developmet ad updatig cotet of the EMCDDA s public website. This comprises regular ad cyclical cotet updatig icludig: 3 3 3 3 Topical cotet areas (policy ad law, health ad social itervetios, idicator resources pages, research, drug profiles, iteratioal cooperatio, etc.) The Europea Database o New Drugs (EDND) (olie, restricted) Best practice portal Olie traiig modules News ad evets (olie, EN, with some multiligual sectios) Techical publicatios Hepatitis C treatmet (Isights series, prited, PDF, EN) 3 3 3 Psychiatric comorbidities (Isights series, prited, PDF, EN) Assessig illicit drugs i wastewater (Isights series, prited, PDF, EN) Iteret ad drug markets (Isights series, prited, PDF, EN) Drug policies of large cities (EMCDDA Paper, olie, PDF, EN) Joit Europol EMCDDA threat assessmet o methamphetamie (Joit publicatios, olie, PDF, EN) Scietific articles i high-impact jourals EMCDDA reports (istitutioal ad implemetatio reports ad joit publicatios) Geeral Report of Activities, 2014 (prited, PDF, EN) 3 3 EMCDDA 2015 work programme (olie, PDF, EN) 2014: a year i review (prited, EN) Outputs related to the implemetatio of Coucil Decisio 2005/387/JHA: 3 3 EMCDDA Europol report o the implemetatio of the Decisio (Article 10 report) EMCDDA Europol Joit Report ad risk assessmet (if ecessary) (olie, PDF, EN) Druget Europe ewsletter (prited, PDF, EN, four issues) 3 3 3 3 8 / 53
II. MAIN AREAS OF WORK IN 2015 Moitorig ad reportig o the drugs problem i Europe I II.1 Data collectio, aalysis ad quality assurace I Overview The effort to improve ad ehace the validity ad reliability of data collectio ad the relevace of the associated aalysis is a ogoig process; though, as the ed of the three-year work programme, 2015 is a atural milestoe. A umber of activities are expected to stabilise ad become part of the established routies rather tha beig i developmet. The ew structure of the Europea Drug Report: Data ad statistics (Statistical bulleti) web area will be i place, with a clearer distictio betwee data ad aalysis, a improved web iterface, dedicated web pages ad improved documetatio of methods. Chagig circumstaces will prompt further developmet; however, this marks a trasformatio of oe of the mai pillars of the agecy s work. A umber of activities fallig withi the commitmet to highlight quality assurace will reach stability. The crosscheckig of data, both betwee data sources received by the EMCDDA, ad betwee the EMCDDA ad exteral parters, will cotiue withi the available resources ad the results of those checks will be made available to the data providers ad the scietific aalysts. I parallel, duplicatio of data collectios with exteral parters will be reduced where possible. ECDC data exchages o otificatios of HCV ad huma immuodeficiecy virus (HIV) should be well established ad stable, with the EMCDDA o loger collectig this data ad thus reducig the burde of reportig o data providers. The developmet of Fote will cotiue. I the eight years sice its iceptio, the iitial problems relatig to the iterface have bee resolved, followed by ecessary adjustmets to the uderlyig structure, largely hidde from the user but essetial to esure robustess. I the 2013 15 period, importat improvemets have bee made i fuctioality for the user, such as alterative methods of data submissio, improved avigatio, coutry specific iformatio o submissio history, ad accommodatio of the ew treatmet demad idicator (TDI) data collectio. I additio, efforts have bee made to ehace the utility of the data extracted from Fote, improvig the form of the data output, makig it easier to import the data ito other software packages ad to share the data. This provides the groud for automatig stadard parts of the productio process for tables ad graphs i the Europea Drug Report: Data ad statistics (Statistical bulleti) web area, which was ivestigated i 2014. The subject experts, focal poits ad scietific aalysts will cotiue the process of adjustig data collectio tools to accommodate chages i the drug situatio ad aalysis eeds, ad the templates i Fote will be costructed accordigly. The data collectio for the ew TDI will have bee completed, ad the ew aalysis i tables ad graphs costructed for the Europea Drug Report: Data ad statistics (Statistical bulleti) web area ad the EDR. To reach that poit, the extractio routies, programmes to costruct the outputs, ad documetatio will be fialised ad implemeted. This agai marks a milestoe i the developmet of the iformatio o the characteristics of idividuals i treatmet. The work o supply (sub) idicators will require support, first i the costructio of suitable data collectio istrumets, ad secod i the aalysis of the data received, both for the regular EMCDDA outputs such as the Europea Drug Report: Treds ad developmets ad Europea Drug Report: Data ad statistics (Statistical bulleti), ad for the secod EU drug markets report. The latter will require sigificat effort, i terms of both data aalysis ad writig, assumig a similar process to the first report. A particular iput ito this process will be the output of the project o estimatig market size for a rage of drugs (see mai area 2). 9 / 53
Goal 2013 15 A coheret, reliable ad valid data collectio system, uderpied by a quality assurace framework Specific objective 1.1: Improve data collectio istrumets ad processes Priority itervetios Plaed activities Expected outputs/results 1.1.1. Esure the coherece, efficiecy ad quality of reportig tools ad processes 1.1.1.1. Review ad revise reportig package to esure efficiecy, ad match priorities ad resources (i coordiatio with NFPs) (L1) Streamlied reportig package developed ad implemeted Work pla ad tools adopted for 2016 1.1.2. Aual data collectio exercise 1.1.2.1. Implemet aual reportig cycle (L1) NFPs supported i data submissio (guidelies ad tools) 2014 15 data cycle implemeted 2015 16 data cycle lauched 1.1.3. Maitai Fote reportig system ad data warehouse 1.1.2.2. Fote maiteace ad update: revise templates (as required) (L1) Templates ad processes adjusted as required 1.1.3.1. Maitai databases ad tools (L1) Systems for drug data collectio operatioal Review ad cleaig of the database 1.1.3.2. Improve automatic data submissio tools ad data extractio tools (L2) 1.1.3.3. Review ad recocile historical data sets i supply area (L2) Improved fuctioality for NFPs Datasets that ca more easily be queried or aalysed i house Ogoig validatio ad update of historical data series (resource depedet) Specific objective 1.2: Stregthe the quality assurace framework to support data collectio, aalysis ad reportig Priority itervetios Plaed activities Expected outputs/results 1.2.1. Implemet a cross-idicator method for validatio ad aalysis 1.2.2. Review, ratioalise ad improve quality assurace measures for data collectio 1.2.3. Develop a statistical quality framework for the aalysis, maipulatio ad reportig of data withi the EMCDDA 1.2.1.1. Implemet coherece checks ad combied aalysis (L3) 1.2.2.1. Moitor the quality of the data reported by NFPs ad provide feedback (L2) 1.2.2.2. Implemet cross-checkig of data betwee the differet data collectio tools (L2) 1.2.2.3. Carry out, where possible, coherece checks with exteral data sources (L3) 1.2.3.1. Produce the 2015 Europea Drug Report: Data ad statistics (Statistical bulleti) (L1) 1.2.3.2. Implemet framework for statistical quality assurace (L2) Improved multi-idicator aalysis Quality feedback provided to NFPs (i lie with the developmets cocerig the revisio of the atioal reportig system) Improved validity ad reliability of the data received Coherece problems idetified ad rectified 2015 Europea Drug Report: Data ad statistics (Statistical bulleti) published olie (ew structure implemeted) Statistics Code of Practice implemeted Framework for expert ratigs implemeted 10 / 53
I II.2 Moitorig ad uderstadig drug use ad problems: key idicators ad epidemiology I Overview The epidemiological moitorig of drug use prevalece ad patters, ad the health ad social cosequeces, are at the heart of the EMCDDA s work. It aims to facilitate a reliable diagosis of the drug situatio, which i tur is the basis for developig solutios ad evaluatig whether or ot they work. The agecy must esure that its work is resposive to the challeges of moitorig the cotemporary Europea drug situatio at a time whe the drug situatio itself is evolvig at cosiderable speed ad ew demads are beig placed o the agecy. Epidemiological moitorig is based o a rage of core idicators, called key epidemiological idicators (key idicators KIs) that iclude: the prevalece ad patter of drug use i the geeral populatio (geeral populatio survey GPS); the prevalece ad patters of problem drug use (PDU); the umber ad characteristics of drug users cotactig drug services, i particular treatmet services (treatmet demad idicator TDI); the umber of drugiduced deaths ad mortality amog drug users (drug-related deaths DRD); ad the ifectious diseases related to drug use (drug-related ifectious diseases DRID). The EMCDDA s goal for the 2013 15 work programme is to provide a improved overview of the Europea drug situatio by ehacig multi-idicator aalysis. Work i 2015 will build o the activities started i previous years, with ew crossidicator aalytical iitiatives beig developed. The agecy will idetify priority questios o the Europea drug situatio ad complete core aalysis to iform key outputs. Improvig cooperatio with the Europea School Survey Project o Alcohol ad Other Drugs (ESPAD) group is oe of the objectives of the three-year work programme. Durig 2015 the agecy will further icrease the collaboratio ad will cotribute to the lauch of the 2015 ESPAD study by providig support for ESPAD coordiatio tasks. As part of the overall quality assurace framework for the key scietific meetigs, a ew cocept for the aual key epidemiological idicators expert meetigs started to be implemeted i 2013; this was improved i 2014 ad it will be fully operatioal i 2015. It promotes cross-idicator aalysis, better itegratio of situatio ad resposes ad idetificatio of treds. The meetigs will be orgaised ad assessed i lie with a set of quality stadards. This will cotribute to icreasig quality while makig best use of resources ivested. The third trieial assessmet of the implemetatio of the KIs i the EU Member States, Norway ad Turkey will be carried out i close collaboratio with the NFPs. The exercise is iteded to documet the progress made from the secod assessmet (2012) ad formulate recommedatios to support the further work of the NFPs. Goal 2013 15 Provide a itegrated ad isightful overview of the Europea drug situatio by ehacig aalysis of the key epidemiological idicators, icludig cross-idicator aalysis ad combied aalysis with other sources of iformatio, while esurig the quality of the iformatio collected by Member States ad the EMCDDA Specific objective 2.1: Esure progress i the methodological developmet of the key epidemiological idicators (KIs) Priority itervetios Plaed activities Expected outputs/results 2.1.1. Esure key idicator methods ad tools remai fit for purpose Treatmet prevalece module tool for data collectio developed, for implemetatio i 2016 EMQ module for alcohol revised Draft EMQ module o medicies items prepared 2.1.1.1. Revise tools for data collectio o treatmet prevalece based o TDI data collectio (L2) 2.1.1.2. Revise the Europea Model Questioaire (EMQ) o alcohol ad medicies variables (i the cotext of polydrug use) (L2) 2.1.1.3. Audit atioal survey data collected o ew psychoactive drugs (L2) 2.1.2. Scale up cooperatio with ESPAD project 2.1.2.1. Cotribute to the lauch of the 2015 ESPAD study ad esure ESPAD coordiatio ad the preparatory work for the 2016 ESPAD report (L2) 2.1.2.2. Support aalysis ad dissemiatio (L2) Aalysis preseted at the GPS aual expert meetig EMCDDA support provided for coordiatio tasks, ESPAD data collectio ad prelimiary aalysis Preparatory work for the 2016 ESPAD report udertake Preparatory work for the ESPAD web presece (to be lauched i 2016) 11 / 53
Specific objective 2.2: Support the implemetatio of the key idicators through ogoig moitorig ad provisio of techical guidace ad traiig Priority itervetios Plaed activities Expected outputs/results 2.2.1. Actively moitor the implemetatio of KIs ad idetify implemetatio eeds 2.2.2. Support KI implemetatio through expert advice ad traiig, as eeded 2.2.3. Support KI implemetatio i third coutries ad iteratioal efforts to improve reportig capacity (see also objectives 8.4 ad 8.5) 2.2.1.1. Moitor the implemetatio status of KIs i all coutries (L2) 2.2.2.1. Support coutries i implemetatio of key epidemiological idicators (L2) 2.2.3.1. Provide traiig ad support (where appropriate ad based o available resources) (L3) Trieial review coducted ad follow-up implemeted as eeded Traiig ad assistace provided based o idetified eeds ad availability of resources Traiig ad advice provided (see also activity 8.5.3.1.) Specific objective 2.3: Maximise the value of key idicator iformatio through aalysis to provide a comprehesive, relevat ad multi-source uderstadig of cotemporary patters of drug use, treds ad related health ad social cosequeces, ad resposes Priority itervetios Plaed activities Expected outputs/results 2.3.1. Develop aalytical capacity, maitai KI expert etworks, ad itroduce more itegrated ad efficiet workig practices 2.3.2. Improve exploitatio of data through stadaloe, cross-idicator, ad cross-area aalysis 2.3.3. Ratioalise ad improve web-based iformatio o the drug situatio 2.3.1.1. Carry out aalysis of the Europea drug situatio by usig KI data ad maitai expert etworks through meetigs, etworkig ad capacity buildig activities (L2) 2.3.2.1. Idetify priority questios requirig aalysis ad task iteral work group(s) (L1) 2.3.2.2. Coduct selected cross-idicator aalysis i differet domais (L2) 2.3.2.3. Carry out stad-aloe aalysis of KI data (L2) 2.3.2.4. Explore potetial of wastewater aalysis as a idicator to estimate populatio drug cosumptio (L2) 2.3.2.5. Publish i-depth topical review o psychiatric co-morbidities (EMCDDA Isights series) (L2) 2.3.2.6. Improve uderstadig of market size (L2) 2.3.2.7. Improve timeliess ad access to iformatio o drug ijectig, health cosequeces ad service developmet (with iput from parters) (L3) 2.3.2.8. Improve reportig capacity for o-fatal health cosequeces of drug use (L3) 2.3.3.1. Further develop website cotet o key themes, methods ad atioal data profiles i cotext of the itegrated EMCDDA website framework (L2) Aual Europea expert meetigs orgaised ad results dissemiated Quality assurace guidelies for meetigs implemeted Cross-idicator aalysis ad etworkig supported (techical collaboratio ad olie resources) Core aalysis completed to iform EMCDDA outputs Aalysis sheets i the Europea Drug Report: Data ad statistics (Statistical bulleti) web area Aalysis of harmoised GPS data Improved harmoisatio of PDU estimates Aalysis of polydrug use based o TDI data Techical proposal for wastewater moitorig I-depth topic review o wastewater published (EMCDDA Isights series) EMCDDA Isights o psychiatric comorbidities published Multi-idicator model of market size developed Aual update o treds ad developmets (web based) Aalysis o emergecies related to caabis published (depedet o outcome of the pilot study carried out i 2014) Natioal profiles Expert users area(s) i place 12 / 53
I II.3. Moitorig demad reductio resposes applied to drug-related problems I Overview The work of the EMCDDA to moitor demad reductio resposes covers prevetio, treatmet, harm reductio ad social reitegratio. Further developig the olie resources will remai a top priority i 2015 for these areas. Some ew aalyses i evirometal prevetio are also plaed that will cotribute to ehacig the available iformatio i this area. I additio, the latest iformatio o coordiated programmig will be reviewed ad made available olie. I the area of treatmet, harm reductio ad social reitegratio, a key task will be to cotiue the implemetatio of the treatmet data collectio ad aalysis strategy adopted i 2012. This will support the EMCDDA ad the 30 coutries reportig to the agecy (28 Member States, Norway ad Turkey) i producig harmoised ad comparable data o treatmet systems i Europe, which will help to close iformatio gaps ad will eable policy coclusios to be draw at both atioal ad EU levels. Natioal treatmet system maps are a core compoet of the strategy ad offer a geeric framework for documetig treatmet providers ad the umber of treatmets delivered i a coutry. Followig the itegratio of the tool ito the 2014 data collectio exercise, it is expected that aroud half of the 30 EMCDDA reportig coutries will improve their curret estimates of the total umber of people i treatmet. A target-ad-idicator framework will be developed to assess ad follow levels of achievemet for critical key parameters of itervetio. Further progress is plaed for 2015 i implemetig the Europea Facility Survey Questioaire (EFSQ). Buildig o the results of the pilot carried out i 2014 with a group of voluteer coutries, additioal coutries are expected to itegrate the EFSQ ito their routie moitorig at the atioal level ad thus be able to report the results to the EMCDDA. The EMCDDA will cotiue to work with its parters at Europea ad iteratioal levels ad provide its expertise i the prevetio of ifectious disease amogst PWID, with a mai focus o HIV ad HCV. I this respect, close collaboratio will be maitaied with the EC (DG SANCO), the Cosumers, Health ad Food Executive Agecy (Chafea) ad ECDC. At the iteratioal level, the World Health Orgaizatio (WHO) Europe ad the Joit Uited Natios Programme o HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) remai the mai parters. The objective of the collaboratio is to stadardise data collectio processes, to share existig ad coutry-based iformatio ad to promote best practice. A ew EMCDDA Isights o hepatitis C treatmet will be published. This i-depth topical review aims to provide top-level guidace o the HCV treatmet services provisio for drug cliets. The publicatio will also review existig atioal guidelies o HCV treatmet for drug users ad complemet them with case examples from a select group of Europea coutries. It will therefore potetially serve as a referece maual for treatmet service developmet ad delivery. Furthermore, a overview of the ratioale, history ad curret practice of aloxoe take-home programmes will be carried out. These programmes combie overdose prevetio educatio ad first aid traiig for drug users, their family members or peers with iformatio about how to admiister the drug i order to reverse the effects of opioid overdose. Cosiderig the burde of overdose deaths i Europe, this ew publicatio (plaed for release i 2016) aims to improve uderstadig o the perspectives for the prevetio of these deaths brought by the aloxoe take-home programmes. Aother importat tool for dissemiatig iformatio o effective itervetios is the Best practice portal (BPP). I 2015 the EMCDDA will cotiue to develop the portal as a key Europea resource for evidece of high-quality itervetios. The process to revamp the BPP ad improve its fuctioality ad usability will be completed ad ew optios to match the existig evidece with real-world problems will be made available. Furthermore, the fruitful collaboratio with the Cochrae Group will be cotiued; ew reviews of evidece will be developed ad the existig oes will be updated. Best practice promotio provides iformatio seekers ad EMCDDA stakeholders with a active role i developig a strategy for iformatio, kowledge geeratio ad dissemiatio. Traiig, either face-to-face or via the Iteret, is a logical ext step after providig evidece for best practice. 13 / 53
Goal 2013 15 Support high-quality service developmet by producig iformatio ad aalysis o demad reductio itervetios ad best practices Specific objective 3.1: Moitor prevetio provisio, implemetatio ad outcomes ad improve reportig o importat areas where iformatio resources are lackig Priority itervetios Plaed activities Expected outputs/results 3.1.1. Provide a ogoig overview of drug prevetio provisio 3.1.2. Develop aalysis o evirometal prevetio 3.1.3. Develop iformatio o coordiated programmig 3.1.1.1. Aalyse ad report fidigs from drug prevetio area ad develop thematic area withi cotext of the itegrated website framework (L2) 3.1.2.1. Carry out ew aalyses ad dissemiate results (L3) 3.1.3.1. Review multidimesioal programmes ad strategies across behavioural domais (L3) Key aalysis coducted ad improved web resources available, icludig prevetio profiles Aalysis ad prevetio profiles exteded i the areas of paretig, school eviromet ad alcohol Techical review of programmes with multiple outcomes Specific objective 3.2: Improve the moitorig ad aalysis of treatmet, harm reductio ad social reitegratio itervetios ad provide a itegrated model for uderstadig service provisio i Europe Priority itervetios Plaed activities Expected outputs/results 3.2.1. Provide a ogoig overview of drug treatmet, harm reductio ad social reitegratio 3.2.2. Implemet the ew treatmet data collectio ad aalysis strategy 3.2.3. Coduct comparative aalysis of drug treatmet systems i Europe 3.2.4. Develop ad test health ad social resposes target-ad-idicator frameworks 3.2.1.1. Aalyse ad report fidigs from resposes area ad develop thematic area withi cotext of the itegrated website framework (L2) 3.2.1.2. Improve uderstadig of resposes to ew psychoactive substaces (L2) 3.2.2.1. Support coutries to implemet the EFSQ (L2) 3.2.2.2. Support coutries i improvig estimates of the total umber of people i treatmet (L2) 3.2.3.1. Develop a coceptual framework for aalysis of atioal treatmet systems (L3) 3.2.4.1. Develop ad test model for a target-adidicator framework i the treatmet field, as policy tool, based o multiple-idicator set (L3) Key aalysis coducted ad improved web resources available, icludig olie products o treatmet, harm reductio, social reitegratio Expert meetig orgaised Icreased umber of coutries that report atioal EFSQ results i Structured Questioaire 27 (SQ 27) Icreased umber of coutries that are able to provide estimates o the total umber of people i treatmet Techical paper Comparative aalysis of atioal treatmet systems i the EU prepared Target-ad-idicator coceptual framework developed ad model tested Specific objective 3.3: Idetify ad support dissemiatio ad kowledge exchage o best practices Priority itervetios Plaed activities Expected outputs/results 3.3.1. Coduct state-of-the-art ad evidece reviews 3.3.2. Dissemiate kowledge o best practice ad improve fuctioality ad usability of olie tools 3.3.1.1. Publish i-depth topical review o hepatitis C treatmet (L2) 3.3.1.2. Prepare i-depth topical review o Naloxoe, to reduce drug-related deaths (L2) 3.3.1.3. Carry out a review of evidece o effectiveess of treatmet approaches usig cotigecy maagemet itervetios (L3) 3.3.1.4. Coduct a meta-aalysis of log-term observatioal studies to aalyse survival rate ad recovery rate of drug users (L3) 3.3.2.1. Revise the BPP website ad improve usability (L2) 3.3.2.2. Update sythesis of evidece resources for demad reductio itervetios i the BPP (L2) I-depth topical review o hepatitis C treatmet published (EMCDDA Isights series) I-depth topical review o Naloxoe prepared (EMCDDA Isights series) Techical paper prepared Techical paper prepared Redesiged ad more iteractive BPP Maps published o the quality assurace approaches that were adopted at atioal level Modules updated 14 / 53
I II.4. Moitorig drug supply ad supply reductio itervetios I Overview I 2015 the work of the EMCDDA will focus o two mai topics: the developmet of reportig istrumets o drug supply; ad the draftig of the secod EU drug markets report, joitly with Europol. The agecy will cotiue the developmetal work to improve tools ad cocepts for reportig o drug supply (drug markets, drug-related crime ad drug supply reductio), with a particular focus o existig data-sets at EU level. This supports Actio 16 of the EU Actio Pla o Drugs (2013 16), which calls for the developmet ad progressive implemetatio of key idicators o drug supply by stadardisig, improvig ad streamliig data collectio i this field, buildig o curretly available data, ad is i lie with the Coucil coclusios o improvig the moitorig of drug supply i the EU (2013). Buildig o progress achieved i 2013 14, the EMCDDA will cotiue the work i this area i cosultatio with Europol. This will iclude: fialisig the revised reportig istrumets o seizures ad o drug law offeces (DLO), followed by their submissio for edorsemet by the Member States (Reitox NFPs), ad fialisig of the revised reportig istrumets o drug productio facilities, for pilotig by Europol. Furthermore, a pilot data collectio o drug law offeces will be implemeted i coordiatio with Eurostat ad, depedig o resources, work will be advaced i the area of drug purity ad cotets. I additio, specific ivestmets will be cotiued i the area of drug supply reductio, where kowledge ad idicator developmet is more limited. The first EU drug markets report (2013) was widely recogised as providig a major cotributio to both uderstadig drug supply ad defiig priorities for policymakers ad laweforcemet officials at atioal ad EU levels. I 2015 the EMCDDA will work joitly with Europol i order to produce the secod editio of the report (for release i 2016). This will iclude completio of the data collectio from the Member States ad exteral parters, data aalysis ad draftig of the report ad cosultatio with stakeholders, amely the EC, the EMCDDA s Scietific Committee ad the NFPs. The aalysis i this secod report will be stregtheed by the work o the multi-idicator model for estimatig market sizes, lauched i 2014 (see mai area 2). Cetral to the work of the EMCDDA i the area of drug supply ad drug supply reductio is the EU Referece Group o drug supply data. Followig its costitutio i 2013, the third meetig of this group will be held i 2015. A importat task will be the cosultatio o the revised reportig istrumets. I additio, liks with the law-eforcemet commuity will be further stregtheed through the EMCDDA s traiig activities i partership with the Europea Police College (CEPOL) (resource depedet). This will esure that the Europea law-eforcemet commuity has access to relevat EMCDDA expertise ad products i order to support their work. I parallel to this, the EMCDDA will fulfil the tasks assiged to it i the Operatioal Actio Plas (OAPs) withi the Europea Multidiscipliary Platform agaist Crimial Threats (EMPACT) framework developed uder the ew EU policy cycle for orgaised ad serious iteratioal crime 2014 17 withi the Coucil s Stadig Committee o Operatioal Cooperatio o Iteral Security (COSI) of the EU. The EMCDDA will provide cotributios i the fields of sythetic drugs, cocaie ad heroi. 15 / 53