The Adeje department of health under Councillor Amada Trujillo Bencomo has donated €27,000 to the Cesica Foundation to assist in the continued work of the Nova drug dependency intervention and education programme in the borough. The programme is specifically designed to target and assist adolescents and young people who are beginning to experiment with drugs, and who are showing signs of substance abuse or other addictive traits.
The work of the body is very much in the public interest, part of a drive to improve the health and quality of life of the youth of the borough, says councillor Amada Trujillo Bencomo. She commented, “The addiction issue is an important problem for public health here and affects the wellbeing of young people and their families throughout the Canaries. It is very important the public administrations are there to help, offering services that work to minimise consumption and protect those at risk, reduce the probability of use and abuse of substances and of developing drug dependency”.
The Nova project is also designed to assist families and those legal responsible for those consuming, who are perhaps experiencing difficulties in seeing that their children continue with their studies as they fall into addiction. In this regard intervention is centred on reducing the levels of consumption and working to avoid problems associated with abuse. The project also sees family interventions to improve relations at home and socially for the young people abusing drugs.
Nova is designed to work with young people aged between 15 and 21 years of age, and their families, who are at risk of taking psychoactive substances. The project also works to help those under 15 who are occasional drug users and maybe considered at risk, or those who are considered to be living in a situation without constructive family supports.
The councillor adds, “Councils are the right vehicle to work on prevention and intervention in addictions as we are the bodies closest to our local populations”. Adeje also has a municipal drugs plan which works on prevention in this area. For this to function properly the council relies upon the assistance of bodies and associations who are developing projects specifically working in the area of education, prevention, reduction of risk behaviour and in parallel promoting healthier lifestyle choices particularly in young people and adolescents.
Among those bodies, one of the most reliable is the Cesica Canarian Foundation, ‘Proyecto Hombre’, a non-profit making organisation with over 30 years’ experience in this particular area. They work to create a prevention network in schools, family, community and work settings, as well as designing programmes to treat and care for those in addiction.
