Call for the expressions of interest in the field of information on the drug phenomenon in the European Union
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), in Lisbon, has published a call for expressions of interest aimed at identifying potential partners able to contribute to the fulfilment of its current work programmes. According to the regulation establishing the EMCDDA (OJ No L 36 of 12.02.1993 p. 1.), its objective is to provide the Community and its Member States with unbiased, reliable and comparable information at European level concerning drugs and drug addiction and their consequences. This objective is operationalized by the first three-year work programme of the EMCDDA 1995-1997. The centre's tasks are defined as follows: - Collection and analysis of existing data; - Improvement of data-comparison methods; - Dissemination of data; - Cooperation with European and international bodies and organizations and with non-Community countries. The identified partners should help the EMCDDA to cover tasks within the framework of its work programme, relating in particular to the following areas: - Epidemiology: . Assessment of prevalence and incidence (quantitative and qualitative aspects); . Health consequences (especially mortality); . Evaluation of routine statistics produced by administrative monitoring systems; . Methods for analysing and integrating information from different indicators; . Epidemiological methods for evaluating interventions; . Review and synthesis of existing epidemiological information, including secondary or meta-analysis; and procedures for ensuring data quality and comparability; - Demand reduction: . Assessment of approaches and methods applied in interventions aimed at reducing the demand for drugs, including prevention, outreach work, harm-reduction activities, therapy and rehabilitation. This should include policy and decision making aspects, implementation, theoretical and scientific foundations, evaluation, education and training, and research; - Information systems: . Setting up mechanisms to provide core information on drugs and drug use. This mechanism should define the sources of information, the processing and the dissemination of it; . Building a European infrastructure and information network, in cooperation with the partners in the Member States (in particular a network of National Focal Points: REITOX). The international and Community standards on such data networks (ISO, IEEE, IDA, etc.) must be applied; - Documentation: . Establishing concepts for the organization and management of the archive and documentation services of the EMCDDA. Establishing an operational documentation and retrieval system, including classification, cataloguing, indexing and coding with the information technology system of the monitoring centre; . Establishing a concept aimed at providing policy and decision makers and professionals in the field with adequate information geared to their information needs and habits, thereby creating a high profile for the EMCDDA; . Editing and publication of reports and other documents, including the annual report of the EMCDDA on the drug phenomenon in Europe, scientific monographs, graphics, printing and distribution. The purpose of the call for expression of interest is to draw up, following a selection process, a topic-based register of potential contractors (contracts for the provision of services, studies or consultations). Invitations to participate in restricted invitations to tender will be sent, as appropriate, to the National Focal Points, to partner international organizations, to firms, non-commercial organizations (NGOs, educational establishments and institutions) and individuals selected from this register according to needs, the topic in question and the budget. In some cases, the EMCDDA may consider candidates who cover only certain areas of the chosen topics. The National Focal Points of the EMCDDA and its six associated international organizations will be automatically placed on the register of potential contractors. The register will remain valid until at least 31 December 1997. The EMCDDA reserves the right to negotiate with the candidates of its choice. Interested parties are invited to submit a written application to: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction "Call for expression of interest" rua da Cruz da Sta. Apolonia 23-25 P-1100 Lisbon