SBIRT Kampala meeting

A global meeting on early substance-use care opened in Kampala on April 16 with a narrow brief: figure out why basic screening and fast referrals still fail to reach much of Africa. (icuddr.org) The two-day International Network on Brief Interventions for Alcohol and Other Drugs and International Consortium of Universities for Drug Demand Reduction meeting was held at Makerere University School of Public Health in Kampala on April 16-17, with Uganda’s Ministry of Health, Makerere University, and the World Health Organization’s SAFER Initiative Uganda Office listed as collaborators. (icuddr.org) Organizers framed the agenda around “Barriers and Opportunities to Implementing SBIRT in Africa,” with sessions on scale-up, workforce training, policy, research, and systems change, plus an International Certified Addiction Professional exam on April 15. (icuddr.org) SBIRT stands for screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment: a short check for risky alcohol or drug use, a quick counseling conversation, and a handoff to more intensive care when needed. The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration says the model is designed for early intervention in primary care, emergency rooms, schools, and other community settings. (samhsa.gov) The Kampala meeting focused on that early-stage model because organizers say many African health systems still face limited treatment options, uneven use of evidence-based care, and shortages of trained professionals. Their program says the gap is not only scientific but operational, with universities and health systems both needing staff, training, and implementation support. (icuddr.org) The burden behind the meeting is large. The World Health Organization said in 2024 that alcohol caused 2.6 million deaths a year worldwide, with the highest numbers of alcohol-attributable deaths in the WHO European and African regions and the highest death rates in low-income countries. (who.int) Organizers also highlighted how alcohol harm in Africa often appears in specific patterns: underage drinking, illicit alcohol use, binge drinking, dependence, and rising risk among pregnant women, unhoused people, and out-of-school youth. Those details appeared in the meeting program’s statement of purpose, which tied them to weak response capacity across the region. (icuddr.org) This was the first time INEBRIA and ICUDDR co-hosted a thematic meeting in Africa, according to both groups’ event notices. Registration fees were tiered by World Bank income classification, from $40 for low-income countries to $300 for high-income countries, with lower rates for students and participants from low- and middle-income countries. (inebria.net, icuddr.org) The meeting’s closing task was less about announcing a new program than about lining up the people and institutions needed to make routine screening work in ordinary clinics and community systems. In Kampala, the pitch was simple: catch risky use earlier, before it becomes harder and costlier to treat. (issup.net, samhsa.gov)