The Brazilian Association for the Study of Alcohol and Other Drugs

Abstract

The Brazilian Association for the Study of Alcohol and other Drugs [Associação Brazileira de Estudos do Álcool e outras Drogas (ABEAD)] is a non‐profit entity with the purpose of encouraging discussions and exchanges on advances in the prevention, treatment and research of addition. It currently brings together 840 professionals from different areas, such as Psychiatry, Social Assistance, Nursing, Psychology, Sociology, Law, in addition to community leaders, thus having an innovative and dynamic character. It organises annual national congresses and regional meetings hosting foreign guests. The society has a style that is innovative and dynamic. After more than 20 years of work, ABEAD exerts significant national influence and its members have been invited to participate in the main decisions regarding issues linked to drug abuse in Brazil. Among other achievements, it has contributed to the proposals on prevention and treatment policies and the standardization of the different levels of assistance provided by public health‐care. In addition, its members have worked closely with the initiatives made by the government and medical entities in the search for a consensus on the treatment of the different types of dependence, including alcohol dependence and smoking. ABEAD's goal for the future is to broaden its participation in the national drug policy arena and to intensify the work with other medical organizations and with the community.

Infrastructure and Career Opportunities in Addiction Science: The Emergence of an Interdisciplinary Field

“…Some organizations influence national policy. ABEAD (Dias da Silva et al, 2002), for example, is close to the Brazilian government. Others stay clear of political involvement and focus on "science as science"; the German Society for Addiction Research and Addiction Treatment (Mann & Batra, 2008) has supported the renaissance of the national addiction science base.…”

Closing remarks: Addiction societies as valuable assets

“…First and foremost, they run meetings: these come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from gigantic annual events of the Big Top variety to small topic-based workshops which might be compared to a modest kind of tented bivouac. Some of these organizations influence national policy; ABEAD [2] exemplifies that kind of ambition and is close to government, while others stay clear of that type of involvement and are focused more on science as science; the German Society [13] has assissted the renaissance of the national addiction base. Publications are another main function in terms of journals, yearbooks, bulletins, guidelines and educational materials.…”

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Between 2001 and 2007, Addiction published a series of 13 specially commissioned statements describing the life and times of a range of societies which deal with alcohol and drugs [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. The international coverage of this series was wide, and we have here reports from North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australasia.

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