TRAINING OF TRAINERS FOR ETHIOPIA ON THE UNIVERSAL CURRICULUM FOR PREVENTION/TREATMENT OF SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS

Addiction is a disease!

Just as an individual can fall ill, so too can a community. When an individual is physically sick, their body is affected. Similarly, when a community is sick, its social fabric is disrupted. And when that happens, the nation itself becomes ill.

Studies suggest that an individual’s psychological, physical, and spiritual pain can transform into social, economic, and political suffering. For this reason, social scientists rank addiction among the most serious afflictions capable of causing severe harm.

Addiction takes control of the sufferer’s brain and distorts its natural functioning. The individual falls under the sway of a distorted mental system, driven by an overwhelming and uncontrollable craving – they become enslaved. When a person who uses drugs or alcohol crosses the line from use to addiction, the damage escalates. Beyond the harm to their internal organs and mental health, their social and economic life collapses. This inflicts a severe blow on the family, the foundation of the nation. The cumulative effect destabilizes the country. Yet, despite its gravity, this disease has long been neglected, without the attention it deserves.

This disease is not only an enemy to the peace of individuals and families; studies also indicate that it can undermine national peace, cripple the economy, and lead to political instability.

Addiction is preventable and treatable!

Therefore, treating this disease like any other – through medical care, rehabilitation, prevention, and the enactment and enforcement of protective laws – can lay a foundation to save the nation from severe harm and propel the younger generation toward greater development.

To date, the scale, depth, and spread of the problem, and the immense damage it has caused, remain astronomically far from our efforts to overcome and control it – a gap as vast as heaven and earth.

It is known that for the past ten years, Meqoamia Community Development Organization (MCDO) has been working to address the severe shortage of professionals in this field and to elevate national efforts to a higher level, both domestically and continentally. We are grateful for the government’s initial attention to this issue. However, we urge that this attention be strengthened, in the name of children suffering because a parent or guardian is lost to addiction, and in the name of mothers and guardians who have lost their children to this disease. A nation is its people!

To work more effectively and in a more coordinated manner than ever before, MCDO – in partnership with the Ministry of Health and the Colombo Plan’s Drug Advisory Programme (DAP), which has 70 years of international recognition and works with the African Union, the US, the EU, the UN, and others – has been learning from the experiences of other countries and attending training programs abroad. MCDO has organized itself with up-to-date knowledge and, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, has provided internationally recognized training to help save our continent, Africa, from the drug problem.

In this context, MCDO staff members, including Mr. Elias Kalayu (Executive Director) and Ms. Sara Deguma, together with Ministry of Health representatives (including Dr. Tedla W/giworgis), regional health bureau disease prevention directorate officers, and other professionals – a total of 31 trainees – participated in the ” Training of Trainers (TOT) for Ethiopia on the Universal Curriculum for Prevention/Treatment of Substance Use Disorders (UPC 1, UTC 1)” from March 19-25, 2019. This training was delivered for the first time in Ethiopia.

MCDO played a commendable role as organizer and coordinator, contributing to a highly successful training period. Five MCDO staff members were trained as trainers of trainers and received certificates of recognition.

We believe this training will greatly benefit our nation. By effectively training professionals in the still-nascent fields of prevention and rehabilitation, it will strengthen ongoing efforts across all regions and levels. It will foster hopeful, impactful action toward a solution. Equally, we believe this creates a valuable opportunity – a supportive army of trainers within the health sector – to ensure addiction receives greater attention.

Addiction is preventable and treatable!

Our nation has no greater resource than the minds and hearts of its citizens.

Therefore, we wish to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Colombo Plan DAP for this remarkable and transformative training.

Thank you very much, #MoH and #Colombo Plan DAP (US, INL).