EU funding for drug prevention programmes and drug-related harm reduction programmes

Ljubljana, 25 August 2017 – Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy, the Managing Authority for ERDF, ESF and Cohesion Fund, issued grant decision for the call for proposals Development and upgrade of a network of mobile units for drug prevention programmes and drug-related harm reduction programmes which was published today in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia. The call makes close to EUR 2.4 million available, of which over EUR 1.9 million comes from the European Social Fund. 

Active users of illicit drugs and new psychoactive substances are by and large hard to reach out to. Their lifestyle increases the risk of emergence and spread of communicable diseases and causes their social status to deteriorate. Various services offering support and assistance to drug users are often hard to access as a result of geographic dispersion which is reflected in a large number of small towns and poor accessibility outside main traffic routes. Lack of trained and qualified medical and paramedical professionals further undermines provision of comprehensive services under the existing programmes. 

The call seeks to provide financial support for the programmes of development and upgrade of mobile units to help prevent drug abuse and reduce drug-related risks and harms. Actions seeking to develop and upgrade programmes that will contribute to empowering target groups and bringing them closer to the labour market are expected to be designed.

The project will build on the establishment and work of professional multidisciplinary teams that will deliver drug and new psychoactive substances prevention programmes in order to reduce drug-related harms on the ground, presumably between 2017 and 2022. 

For more information please refer to the Ministry of Health