The EMCDDA/Pompidou Group treatment demand indicator protocol: A European core item set for treatment monitoring and reporting

Over the last decades inside and outside of Eu rope, treatment-based data h ave been used in epidemiological research on drugs and drug abuse. They off er information on hidden populations and allow to follow socially stigmatis ed behaviour. As this type of research can be done on rather low budgets, t here are long-term projects run in many countries. Experts from the nationa l systems in several EU member states have been working together to develop a common standard on the basis of the Pompidou Group (PG) Definitive Proto col. The items and basic definitions of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)/PG Treatment Demand Indicator Protocol ar e described, which plays an important role in the process of harmonisation of data collection for the EMCDDA, Implementation strategies are described, and future steps are discussed, Copyright (C) 1999 S. Karger AG, Basel.