Port of Spain, June 10, 2024: The Ministry of Health (MoH), via its National Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Programme (NADAPP) participated in a Regional Training of Trainers in the Universal Prevention Curriculum (UPC) Practitioners Series - School-Based Prevention course, from May 29-June 5, 2024, at the Ministry of Health’s Corporate Headquarters. The training was facilitated by the Executive Secretariat of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (ES-CICAD), Organization of American States (OAS).
The UPC School-Based Prevention Course is designed to build the skills and expertise of prevention practitioners working in educational settings to effectively implement drug use prevention interventions. As part of the commitment of ES-CICAD to improve the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based prevention practices in member states, this training was organized to build the capacity of the substance use prevention workforce in the Caribbean region by creating a cadre of national and regional UPC trainers.
The Ministry of Health coordinated the attendance and participation of twelve (12) representatives from the following Divisions/Organisation in this programme: NADAPP and the Health Education Division of the Ministry of Health; Student Support Services Division of the Ministry of Education and the Division of Health, Wellness and Social Protection of the Tobago House of Assembly. These participants have been trained as trainers alongside another twelve (12) counterparts from various Caribbean territories.
Upon certification, the participants of the training will be responsible for the implementation of training initiatives for other personnel who will be executing drug prevention in the classroom setting.
