The Pompidou Group treatment demand protocol: The first pan-European standard in the field

There have been many efforts to collect drug treatment demand data in the l ast decades, but only few organisations worked on international comparable instruments. This paper describes such an attempt organised under the auspi ces of the Council of Europe in the late 80s, beginning of the 90s. Both th e developed protocol as well as its implementation in various European citi es are presented. Between 1993 and 1999, a comparative research project to annually compile data and trends on European level was carried out. Data qu ality issues and methodological problems are highlighted. The paper notes t he value and success of the treatment demand indicator, but claims for furt her improvements and a combined use with other indicators and qualitative i nformation. Some spin-off and follow-up projects are summarised. Copyright (C) 1999 S. Karger AG, Basel.