FOREWORD
The objective of the World
Health Organization (WHO) as enshrined in its constitution
is the 'attainment by all peoples of the highest possible
level of health.' In order to achieve this objective, the
constitution lists many functions, among which are the promotion
of research in the field of health and cooperation among scientific
and professional groups. Publishing Addiction Science: A Guide
for the Perplexed is a timely product developed to serve as
a tool for the promotion of research on alcohol and other
psychoactive substances and effective dissemination of research
findings through scientific publications.
This book was initiated by
the International Society of Addiction Journal Editors. ISAJE
was founded 'to promote excellence in the communication and
dissemination of information on addiction and related sciences
within the scientific community and to those who have responsibility
for the prevention, treatment, cure, professional training
and policy formation in the field.' Because this objective
coincides with the knowledge functions of WHO in the area
of substance abuse, collaborating with ISAJE on this publication
was logical to the WHO Department of Mental Health and Substance
Abuse.
Psychoactive substance use
and dependence are serious and growing problems all over the
world. Recent data from WHO show that substance use problems
account for a significantly high proportion of the burden
of disease worldwide. According to the World Health Report
2002, for example, alcohol and tobacco were responsible for
4.0% and 4.1%, respectively, of the global burden in 2000
measured in terms of disability-adjusted life years. In many
parts of the world injecting drug use contributes significantly
to new HIV cases and the transmission of other blood-borne
infections. Of particular relevance to this publication is
the growing prevalence of alcohol and other substance use
disorders in low and middle income countries. These are countries
where the tradition of research often needs developing and
where a book of this nature will be very useful especially
to young health researchers.
Publishing Addiction Science:
A Guide For The Perplexed is a natural follow-up to a recent
initiative of the Department of Mental Health and Substance
Abuse. In November 2003, the department held a meeting with
25 editors on the role of scientific journals in galvanizing
research on mental health in low and middle income countries.
A joint statement was issued by participating journal editors
and the department on how to build local capacity for the
collection, analysis and publication of data on mental health
and related problems in these countries. This book follows
some of the recommendations in this statement and can serve
as a vehicle for training and other types of support for researchers
in countries where such help is highly needed.
Helping to build local capacity
for research in the field of substance abuse and wide dissemination
of knowledge by researchers in low and middle income countries
are important planks for the achievement of WHO's objective
of reducing the health burden associated with psychoactive
substance use. The publication of this book will go a long
way in contributing to the achievement of this objective.
Dr Benedetto Saraceno
Director
Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
World Health Organization
Return to Contents
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Preface
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