EMCDDA expert meeting on the Treatment Demand Indicator (TDI)

The 2020 annual EMCDDA TDI\Treatment expert meeting took place on the 5th of November 2020 and was adapted to an online format in order to account for the COVID-19 pandemic and respective prevention measures. The scope of the meeting was to discuss with the network of national and international treatment experts the impact of COVID-19 on drug treatment, including: monitoring, drug services and innovations in drug treatment provision, especially telemedicine.

The first session - impact of COVID-19 on TDI and other treatment data collection in 2020 - explored and discussed how COVID-19 has impacted on national data collections during and after the lockdowns; which COVID-19 related factors have affected treatment demand during 2020 and how to analyse and interpret these data.

The second session - impact of covid-19 on drug services and clients after the lockdown - aimed at exploring the impact of the pandemic on drug services and clients since the lockdown was lifted in June in most EU countries and discuss the challenges and opportunities for drug services during the ‘new normal’ in times of COVID-19.

Finally, the third session - telemedicine: a viable option for European drug treatment services in times of COVID-19 and beyond? - explored emerging alternative options in drug treatment provision, such as telemedicine, which became widely adopted during the lockdown and beyond. The objective was to see how telemedicine, both internet and phone-based treatments, were applied as an alternative to face-to-face consultations before, during and after the lockdown.