Addic medic

Tareq Abdel-Gawwad, newly elected president of the International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM), talks about the society

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The International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM) is an international association that was founded in 1998. Basically 25 physicians from North and South America, Europe and Asia -- then working in the USA -- decided to enhance the thus far marginal role of medicine in combating addiction. The institution they founded includes today 66 physicians and psychiatrists from the Middle East and North Africa as well as the original regions -- African representatives are expected to join soon -- and functions as an umbrella for locally oriented member organisations. ISAM recognises the contribution of sociologists and parties other than physicians as indispensable, however, and its three principal goals are education, prevention, and promotion.

ISAM spreads awareness of addiction as a treatable disease, conducts advanced research with a view to promoting new methods of treatment and draws up empirically grounded programmes that address addiction on the national and international level. It also contributes to the core curricula of various educational institutions in its member states. Activities include a quarterly newsletter, annual meetings and an information website, not to mention the establishment of "addic medic" organisations and societies.

In Egypt we've already helped prevent substance abuse over the last two years, with ISAM physicians lecturing at Cairo University. As of next September, ISAM will hold exams to grant an internationally certified diploma in addiction medicine. But perhaps ISAM's most important contribution in Egypt will be its effort to establish a statistical database in the field of addiction medicine -- a highly important resource that remains missing. Members will also keep us informed about new substances and trends and thus help generate effective prevention strategies to match.

Based on an interview by Magda El-Ghitany