Council Resolution on the implementation of the five key epidemiological indicators on drugs, developed by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)

1. At its meeting on 24 October 2001 the Horizontal Working Party on Drugs recorded its agreement on the text of the above Resolution submitted by the Presidency.

2. The Permanent Representatives Committee is asked to:

• confirm this agreement
• submit the attached text of the Resolution to the Council for adoption as an "A" item.

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Stressing the importance of the availability of objective, reliable and comparable information on the drugs phenomenon as highlighted, amongst other instruments, in Council Regulation (EEC)
No 302/93 of 8 February 1993 on the establishment of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) 1 and in the Commission communication to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the health strategy of the European Community of 16 May 2000 2,

Recalling that the EU Action Plan on Drugs 2000-2004, endorsed by the European Council meeting in Santa Maria da Feira on 19 and 20 June 2000, calls for the Member States to give, according to the technical tools and guidelines provided by the EMCDDA, reliable information on the five key epidemiological indicators in a comparable form drawn up by the EMCDDA and adopted by the Council,

Recalling that the five key epidemiological indicators mentioned in the EU Action Plan on Drugs 2000-2004 are: (1) extent and pattern of drug use in the general population, (2) prevalence of problem drug use, (3) demand for treatment by drug users, (4) drug-related deaths and mortality of drug users and (5) drug-related infectious diseases (HIV, hepatitis),

Emphasising that, when endorsing the EU Action Plan on Drugs 2000-2004, the European Council urged Member States, in cooperation with the EMCDDA, to enhance their efforts to provide reliable and comparable information on the five key epidemiological indicators in order to better evaluate the impact of drug-related issues (Presidency conclusion 51, Santa Maria da Feira, 20 and 21 June 2000), 

Underlining that the Management Board of the EMCDDA, at its meeting in September 2001, adopted the five key epidemiological indicators and recommended technical tools and guidelines for their implementation, while stressing the fact that ensuring the availability and collection of information in comparable form continues to be difficult,

HAS AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Member States, in close cooperation with the EMCDDA, are encouraged to ensure the availability of information on the five key epidemiological indicators and to identify and address possible problems in the production, collection and dissemination of this information;

The Council urges Member States to give priority to the production, collection and dissemination of information on the five key indicators in a comparable form, to coordinate these activities at national and regional levels, making use, in particular, of national focal points of Reitox network established by Council Regulation (EEC) No 302/93 of
8 February 1993, and to make the necessary resources available;

Member States are encouraged to make full use of the abovementioned national focal points and to ensure that the national focal points have the capacity to provide the EMCDDA with information on the five key indicators according to the EMCDDA guidelines and to receive such information;

The Council invites the Member States and the Commission, in close cooperation with the EMCDDA, to examine the best ways and means, in particular of a financial nature, to support the implementation of the five key epidemiological indicators in the framework of the Community information system for public health and in accordance with the EMCDDA guidelines, and to take the appropriate initiatives and steps for this purpose.