Partnerships - Latin American Initiative

Acting on its mission to work with neighboring countries in joint efforts to address drug addiction and its consequences, NIDA has launched a Latin American Initiative designed to increase training in areas such as diagnosis, data analysis, and clinical trials; stimulate the creation of regional networks to improve surveillance and research activities; expand NIDA's library of Spanish-language resources; and provide information useful to policymakers. The NIDA International Program will lead efforts to accomplish these goals by partnering with organizations such as the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) at the Organization of American States, the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to support training programs, surveillance activities, and database analyses. The NIDA International Program also will coordinate efforts by other NIDA and National Institutes of Health (NIH) components, including NIDA's Division of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research, NIDA Clinical Trials Network, and the NIH Fogarty International Center to promote surveillance activities, clinical trials, and training programs. Initial activities include:

• The NIDA International Program partners with CICAD to support the Latin American Epidemiology Working Group (LAEWG) similar to the NIDA Community Epidemiology Working Group (CEWG).
• NIDA and CICAD cosponsor the Competitive Research Award Fund to support drug use research in the region.
• The NIDA International Forum includes sessions to identify relevant activities supported by NIDA and its Latin American partner agencies.
• NIDA supports international researchers selected to participate in the National Hispanic Science Network Summer Research Training Institute.
• NIDA participates in the UNODC Central America Regional Substance Abuse Treatment Network, where representatives from the six participating Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama) meet to identify focus areas in drug abuse research and training and begin developing a clinical research infrastructure.