 Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Unit
Director:
Prof Charles Parry
E-mail: cparry@mrc.ac.za
The Alcohol
& Drug Abuse Research Unit comprises a dynamic team of researchers and
support personnel based in Cape Town and Pretoria involved in cutting edge
research and policy development/analysis locally, nationally and internationally.
Our goal is to generate
knowledge and propose policy and other interventions that will lead to a reduction
in alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse and the associated burden experienced
by individuals and society.
The formal
mission of the Unit is to "stimulate, coordinate, facilitate, initiate,
conduct and evaluate research in the AOD abuse area to improve the health
of the nation."
Key objectives
include the following:
- Measuring the prevalence
of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and associated consequences, and trends
in AOD use/consequences over time;
- Identifying current
and future risk and protective factors for substance abuse (especially in
high risk groups);
- Designing and evaluating
appropriate preventive and other interventions;
- Facilitating the implementation
of research findings by supporting advocacy efforts and providing information
that will allow policy makers, service providers and community representatives
to make informed decisions;
- Undertaking research
that will lead to the improvement of methods for assessing the prevalence
of AOD use and associated consequences, and evaluating the effectiveness
of interventions.
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