About us

The Alcohol, Drugs and Addictive Behaviours Unit is located within the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use. The Unit works globally to improve health and well-being of populations by articulating, promoting and supporting evidence-informed policies, strategies and interventions to reduce the burden associated with alcohol, drugs and addictive behaviours, and by monitoring their implementation and impact. The Unit develops and disseminates technical guidance on prevention and management of health conditions due to substance use and addictive behaviours to attain Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and strengthen health system responses to emergencies.  

The Alcohol, Drugs and Addictive Behaviours Unit's overall objectives are to:

• develop and disseminate technical guidance for implementation of effective and cost-effective strategies and interventions to prevent and reduce public health problems associated with the use of alcohol, drugs and addictive behaviours;
• support implementation of the Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol through coordinated global actions; 
• develop and disseminate technical tools for prevention, identification, diagnosis, treatment and management of health conditions due to substance use and addictive behaviours; and
• generate, collate, compile and disseminate reliable information on the health impact of alcohol, drugs and addictive behaviours as well as health policy and health system responses.

 

MSD-ADA@who.int