Qatari-Italian Cooperation to Establish Addiction Treatment Centre

Doha, April 28 (QNA) - The Director of Public Health Department at Supreme Council of Health (SCH) HE Dr. Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad Al Thani, who is also the Chairman of the National Advisory Committee for the establishment of addiction treatment centre, said that the centre will be launched during the few coming month to provide the services of prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts. This announcement came at a press conference, held on the occasion of the visit by the delegation of San Patrignano Community and Uninettuno University, headed by Italy's Former Minister of Education and Scientific Research Letizia Moratti. This visit comes within a project of mutual cooperation in order to provide and ensure the best medical services to the victims of drug addiction and to benefit from the unique experience of San Patrignano Community over the past four decades in the field of education, prevention, rehabilitation and research. HE Dr. Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad Al Thani stressed that the cooperation with this prestigious organization specialized in Addiction Treatment will help the State of Qatar to be a technological pole in the Gulf region and to contribute by its experts in Addiction Medicine to provide an opportunity for practitioners in drug addiction treatment field in the region to obtain a Master's degree in psycho-social rehabilitation through the Italian Uninettuno University. He also added that this cooperation is one of the interests and priorities of HE the Minister of Public Health and Secretary General of the SCH Abdullah Bin Khaled Al-Qahtani, who assigned, in October 2012, specialists from Qatar to visit San Patrignano Community in Italy, in order to benefit from its experience. "It 's important that Qatar, which is a high level country in education and research, aims to develop the necessary tools contrasting drugs through San Patrignanos cooperation and expertise. The excellent results obtained by the therapeutic model of the Community, already recognized at the European level, can be developed in Qatar, where the drug emergence is now increasing. Only through an international cooperation at this level, we’ll be able to join forces on prevention, fight and recovery from drug addiction worldwide," said Italy's Former Minister of Education and Scientific Research Letizia Moratti, who is the Ambassador of San Patrignano Community (appointed as Goodwill Ambassador in 2000 by the UN). Dr Mounir Soussi, Medical Director of the Treatment and Rehabilitation Center TRC, explained that after he was nominated to visit San Patrignano Community in Italy, in October 2012 and after viewing the experience and expertise of this therapeutic community, the effectiveness of rehabilitation model applied there and being informed about the academic program offered by the University of Uninettuno, it was agreed to transfer the experience from Italy to the State of Qatar and to prepare a Memorandum of Understanding including the exchange of experiences, training, participation in scientific research, and the participating in the Master's program in psycho-social rehabilitation. (QNA)